S. G. & E. L. ELBERT
4
t%
WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries
http://archive.org/details/memoirsofwilliamOOcoll
Wilberforce's Interview with John Newton.
Wilberforce's Life.
p. 48
THE CHRISTIAN STATESMAN
MEMOIRS
of
WILLIAM WILBEEFOECE.
Br
MARY A. COLLIEH
OW YOKK:
BOBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,
No. 530 BROADWAY.
1864.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855,
BY EOBERT CASTER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District
of New York. \
PREFACE,
To indicate the sources from which this memorial
has been drawn is hardly necessary. The very co-
pious and minute biography and correspondence of
Mr. Wilberforce, compiled by his sons, must of course
furnish the material for whatever may be written
of him.
To cull from the mass of detail those portions
most illustrative of character, and, by weaving the
whole into a continuous narrative, so to present it
as to interest the youth of our own country and
times, has been the aim of the writer.
In accomplishing this, a few other works, bearing
directly upon the history of the period under review,
have been incidentally consulted,
Boston, May 10th, 1856.
CONTENTS.
i.
EARLY LIFE.
PAGB
"William Wilberforce— Birth— Early Dispositions — Death of his
Father — Removal to his Uncle's House — Domestic and Religious
Influence — John Thornton — Return to Hull — Decease of Re-
latives—St John's College . . . . . .11
II.
TEMPTATIONS IN LONDON.
Entrance upon Public Life— Election at Hull— Mr. Pitt— Journey
to France — Political Excitements — Yisits Yorkshire— Chosen to
represent that County . . . * , . .24
in.
THE GREAT CHANGE.
A continental Tour — Isaac Milner— ^Doddridge's Rise and Progress
— Return to London — Religious Impressions — Rev. John Newton
— Encouragement — Letter to his Sister . . . .37
IV.
FILIAL AND FRATERNAL LOVE.
Improvement of Time— Mental Peculiarities— Religious Conflicts
—Letters ........ 53
Vlll CONTENTS.
V.
SUPPRESSION OF IMMORALITY.
PAGH
The royal Proclamation— Society for the Suppression of Immoral-
ity — Labors of Mr. Wilberforce — Travels — Hannah More — Letter
to his Mother . . . . . . . .66
VI.
THE SLAVE-TRADE.
Efforts for the Abolition of the Slave-Trade— Granville Sharpe—
Clarkson — Eev. James Eamsay — Lacly Middleton — A Public
Leader necessary — Interest of Mr. "Wilberforce in the Subject —
Illness — Eetirement to Bath— Kecovery — Abolition Bill brought
before the House of Commons . . . . . T3
VII.
VISIT TO HANNAH MORE.
Visit to Cowslip Green — Cheddar — Sabbath and Day-schools — Ee-
turn to London — Slave Business — Yoxall Lodge— Friendship —
Rev. T. Gisborne — Thomas Babington — Death of Mr. Thornton . 91
VIII.
GLOOMY PROSPECTS OF THE ABOLITION BILL.
rhe Abolition Bill resumed — Encouragement — Letter from John
Wesley — Defeat — Sierra Leone— Studies — Difficulties — Threats
of Violence — Kimber — Letter to Lord Muncaster . . . 105
IX.
RELIGIOUS PROGRESS.
douse at Clapham— Eeligious Progress— Social Habits— Abolition
— War with France— Christianity in the East — Disappointment-
Missions ......... 120
CONTENTS. IX
X.
LAFAYETTE.
PAGE
Lafayette — Olmutz— Effort for his Release— Gradual Abolition-
Newspaper Calumnies — Publication of " Practical View of Chris-
tianity" — Leigh Richmond — Edmund Burke . . . 134
XL
HIS MARRIAGE.
Marriage — Cowslip Green — Death of Rev. Dr. Clarke — Visit to
Hull— Letters — James Stephen . . . . 152
XII.
TROUBLOUS TIMES.
Abolition Bill — French Revolution — Infidel Philosophy — Care of
Relatives — Liberality — Change in the Administration — Magnan-
imity — Journal — A penitent Criminal — Humility . . . 162
XIII.
ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE.
The Abolition Bill — Encouragement — Death of Mr. Pitt — Letters
—Death of Mr. Fox— Pamphlet on the Slave-Trade— Passage of
tlie Bill — Congratulations . . . . . . 184
XIV.
A CONTESTED ELECTION.
A contested Election— The Sabbath— Bible Society— Prospect of
an American War— Death of the Prime-Minister . . .198
XV.
DOMESTIC JOYS.
Children— Education— Love-T Watchfulness— Letter to a Daughter
— A Sick-bed — Letters — Advice on leaving Home — A Summer
Journey— Death of a Daughter— Letters .... 21T
X CONTENTS.
XVI.
CHRISTIANIZATION OF INDIA.
PAGB
Retires from the Representation of Yorkshire — Returned for
Bramber— Journal — Christianity in India — Illness — Government
Arrangements — Success in the House — Missions to the East —
Andrew Fuller and the Duellist ..... 243
XVII.
GREAT CHANGES.
Efforts for General Abolition— Treaty of Peace — Dissatisfaction —
Restoration of Bonaparte — Abolition in France — State of West
Indian Slaves — Bill of Registry — Opposition — Death of H. Thorn-
ton — J. Bowdler — Corn-Laws — Sabbath at Taplow — A Coinci-
dence—Death of Mrs. Stephen — Holy Love — Yisit to a sick
Person . . . 258
XVIII.
CHEISTOPHE OF INDIA.
Christophe— Interest in Hayti — Spring of Abolition Efforts— In-
creased Labors— Death of Christophe . . . . 279
XIX.
LAST PUBLIC EFFORTS.
Efforts for "West Indian Slaves— Subject brought into Parliament —
T. F. Buxton— Illness — Retirement ..... 288
XX.
RETIREMENT AND DEATH.
Highwcod— Reminiscences of Past Days— Sketch of J. J. Gurney —
Chapel Building— Pecuniary Losses— Sir James Mackintosh —
Death of a Daughter—Removal — Increased Love of Retirement
—Last Appearance in Public— Abolition- -Decline of Strength-
Bath — London— Gradual Decay— Death .... 300
(&ix\i fife.
At tlie grammar-school in Hull, many
years ago, a bright-looking boy used to be
called upon by the teacher to read aloud to
his companions. His seat was wont to be
upon the table. The best reader in the
school, the boys were accustomed to listen
with pleasure to the clear tones of his silvery
voice, which had power to charm them into
unbroken attention. His elevated seat was
provided on account of his extreme littleness,
being at the time of which we speak only
seven years old, and very slight and delicate
even for that age.
Years passed away. The beloved pupil
of the grammar-school grew to be a man,
and instead of the hushed school-room, there
12 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
was the parliamentary hall ; instead of the
earnest faces of the boys, there were the
statesmen of England, and, even as the boys
of old, would the members of the House of
Commons hang with delight upon his words
of eloquence and power. It was William
WlLBERFORCE.
His life, in its earlier and later days, we
propose to sketch.
He was born at Hull, on the twenty-fourth
day of August, 1759. His father was a mer-
chant of that place. Of three sisters, two
died in early life, the second only living to
grow up. The talents so early shown by
little William were adorned by a most lovely
and loving disposition. Thoughtful of the
wants of others, one person, often a visitor
at his mother's and an invalid, tells us that
the gentle and pleasant boy, who used to
take off his shoes at the door of the sick
chamber, lest he should make a noise in
crossing the room, is well remembered. How
gently, too, he would put aside the curtains,
EAKLY LIFE. 13
and with anxious face ask, " if I was hetter,
I shall never forget."
When William was nine years old, his
father died, and he was sent to live with his
uncle, whose name he bore. The residence
of this gentleman was in a pleasant mansion
at Wimbledon, near London.
Soon after this, the future statesman was
put to a boarding-school, of which little is
recorded save that the master wore a long,
red beard, and the food given to the boys
was very unfit to be eaten. The advantages
bestowed upon children at that time, more
than eighty years ago, are by no means to
be measured by those enjoyed at present.
Though the friends of young Wilberforce
were wealthy, he seems at this time to have
enjoyed but little in the way of acquiring
knowledge. He was, however, regarded with
much kindness and love. An instance of this
we find recorded. His aunt with whom he
now lived had a brother, whose name is
still well known in the records of piety —
2
14 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
John Thornton. This gentleman sent on
one occasion to the favorite of his sister a
present of some money. There was more
than a boy of his age could want to spend,
and Mr. Thornton, in giving it, had intimated
that a part of it was for the poor. After-
ward, when the name of Wilberforce had
become famous as a great and good man,
and a most generous-hearted Christian, he
remembered the gift of Mr. Thornton with
pleasure, not for the money which he had
laid out for himself, but because he had by
this been taught to " remember the poor."
Up to his ninth year, no peculiar care
seems to have been taken to instruct him in
religion. When, however, he came to live
with his uncle, this want of his education
existed no longer. His aunt, the sister of
the excellent John Thornton, by the warmth
of her religious zeal made up for the previous
neglect.
Great kindness \?as lavished by her upon
the pleasant child who had been committed
EARLY LIFE. 15
to her care and dwelt beneath her roof. The
namesake of his uncle and his presumptive
heir, he appears to have been regarded by
these relatives as their own.
The celebrated Whitefield, though near
the close of his career, was, at the time of
which we speak, preaching in London and in
other parts of England. Immense crowds
still followed him. Mrs. Wilberforce loved
the ministry of Whitefield. She had also
many friends among his followers, who were
her occasional guests. It pleased her well,
no doubt, that her active and affectionate
young nephew became strongly attached to
religious society. It is recorded of him that
"a rare and pleasing character of piety
marked his twelfth year/'
But his friends at Hull were by no means
pleased with this new influence. His mother
repaired to London, and, removing him from
his uncle's house, he saw no more of his
aunt's religious friends. Of his uncle and
aunt, he says, " I deeply felt the parting, for
16 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
I loved them as parents ; indeed I was almost
heart-broken at the separation/' To his
uncle he wrote, " I can never forget you as
long as I live/'
Being removed to his mother's house, he
was soon surrounded by young companions,
who introduced him to places of public
amusement. At first he held back— these
pleasures were by no means to his taste: —
the contrast was too painful with the more
staid and quiet domestic scenes of his Wim-
bledon home. When first taken to the the-
ater it was much against his will. In a
manuscript written by himself in later years,
he speaks of this period of his life, and
of the social influences of his native town.
"It was then as gay a place as could be
found out of London. The theater, balls,
great suppers, and card parties were the
delight of the principal families in the town.
The usual dinner hour was two o'clock, and
at six they met at sumptuous suppers. This
mode of life was at first distressing to me ;
EARLY LIFE. 17
but by degrees I acquired a relish for it,
and became as thoughtless as the rest. As
grandson to one of the principal inhabitants,
I was every where invited and caressed/'
He appeared at this time to those about
him a lovely and promising youth. Intelli-
gent far beyond his years, gentle, refined in
his thoughts and expressions, full of spirits
and a flow of wit which, however sharply
pointed it might be, was never unkind.
To these social qualities he added an
enthusiastic taste for music, and a voice
and style of singing which made him much
sought after by the pleasure-loving youth
of Hull. In after years, when he had
become an inhabitant of London, the Prince
of Wales expressed his admiration of this
gift. " We must have you again/' writes a
friend ; " the Prince says he will come any
time to hear you sing/'
From the time of his return to Hull, all
through his years of early life, was young
Wilberforce the favorite of society. Much,
18 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
in those years when the character is forming,
and time is precious, and knowledge must he
acquired, was wasted in a round of visits.
Of the effect of this he has himself told us.
His religious impressions disappeared, and he
became as fond of gayety as his companions.
Alas, for the ingenuous boy, whose heart
had so glowed with sympathetic joy when in
the company of the pious, and about whose
future way such holy hopes had clustered !
Yet amid all these temptations his
heavenly Father had still a care over him.
Though a lover of pleasure, he was kept from
falling into vice ; and notwithstanding the
dissipations of Hull, the gayeties of his
home, the laxity of school discipline, he still
loved his books, and excelled his companions
in scholarship.
By the death of his grandfather, young
Wilberforce came into the possession of an
independent fortune. By the decease of his
uncle, this was still further increased. De-
prived thus of his nearest male relatives, he
EARLY LIFE. 19
became at an early age his own master, with
a larger income than he could spend, his
mother being his sole guardian. Under
these circumstances he became a member
of St. John's College, Cambridge. On first
entering here he encountered a set of worth-
less and vicious companions. " They drank
hard/' he says of them, " and their conver-
sation was even worse than their lives."
From evil in so gross and disgusting a form
his mind recoiled. After a period he shook
them off, and found companions of higher
character and more intellectual pursuits.
Among this selecter circle was one — the
Kev. Thomas Grisborne— with whom friend-
ship was continued in after life, and who
has given some recollection of college days.
"There was no one/' says he, "at all like
him (Wilberforce) for powers of entertain-
ment. Always fond of repartee and discuss-
ion, he seemed entirely free from conceit
and vanity/' The hospitality that marked
his after life may have had its beginning
20 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
in college. u There was/' says the same,
" always a great Yorkshire pie in his rooms,
of which all were welcome to partake. My
rooms and his were back to back, and often
when I was raking ont my fire at ten o'clock,
I heard his melodious voice calling out to
me to come and sit with him before I went
to bed/'
Still in after life he was accustomed to
regret his wasted years. Speaking of the
Fellows of the college, with whom he was
wont to associate a great deal, he speaks
with strong disapproval of the part they
acted toward him. "Why in the world/'
they would say, u should a man of your
fortune trouble himself with fagging ?"
Again he says : " While my companions were
reading hard and studying, card parties and
amusements consumed my time. The tutors
would often say in my hearing that Q ihey
were mere saps ; that I did all by talent/ "
Well might he add, on recurring to this
EAKLY LIFE. 21
period of his life, "This was poison to a
mind constituted like mine/'
Though much time was thus dissipated,
his love of siudy was not wholly lost. Surely
God watched over him, or he would have
been swallowed up by these influences so
adverse to good. But though with persons
on all sides to flatter and lead astray, he was
mercifully kept from ruin. In after years,
when he had learned that for wasted hours
we must give account to God, he strove
diligently to make up for this loss by study,
by method, by strict, persevering effort. He
became a great as well as a good man. He
won a name that will not die ; and still as
mankind grow better shall his fame brighten
and increase. His history has this pecu-
liarity, that for greatness as well as goodness
he is indebted to religious principles received
into the heart and governing the life. That
unceasing toil that marked his public life
and led him on to efforts for human weal,
eventuating in splendor and success, could
22 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
have been inspired in a mind like his, only
by the love of G-od and the desire to please
him. What else could have given oneness
of effort and aim to a mind which, gifted
indeed with extraordinary powers, had yet,
along with the strength of genius, its weak-
ness too ? Yes, but for this great principle
moving upon his mind and heart, and con-
centrating all. its powers in a perfect bond,
the world would never have hailed his name
as one of the benefactors of his race ; his
voice would never have been so perseveringly
lifted for the oppressed ; the orator of the
British Parliament might have been feasted
with transient fame, and then have sunk
into his grave to be forgotten. The great
and gay world stood ready to absorb his
existence ; his playful fancy and pointed wit
made him the life of the festal scene ; his
mind, as the . sunbeam of summer on the
glancing wave, was ever on the wing in quest
of new scenes and new pleasures.
The great principle of duty to God, of
EARLY LIFE. 23
serving him by blessing his creatures, could
alone have given so elevated, so sublime a
direction to those powers, so brilliant yet so
volatile, so much in danger of being enlisted
in the service of folly.
The Almighty had assigned him a work,
and in his own time called him to its per-
formance.
II
I «mgtstiff«« in f flnfofltu
While still at college, Wilberforce had
resolved to enter upon public life. His
active mind sought an object for the employ-
ment of its powers which he could not find
in that round of pleasure which his ample
fortune, his lively temper and fascinating
social powers opened before him. "I was/'
he says of himself, "at that time very
ambitious." Moreover he had, while at
college, formed an acquaintance with the
younger son of Lord Chatham, afterward
the sharer of his father's fame, the celebrated
William Pitt. That this acquaintance had
influenced his choice we are not sure ; certain
it is, however, that the two were afterward
linked in the closest bonds of friendship.
TEMPTATIONS IN LONDON. 25
Wilberforce was chosen a representative
for his native town, as early as 1780. The
war of the American Eevolution had not
yet closed, and, following in the steps of the
great Earl of Chatham, he took his place
in parliament as an opponent of the policy
which had dictated the war. Mr. Pitt came
rapidly into power. His unmatched abilities
were recognized by his sovereign, and at
twenty-four he became the prime-minister
of George the Third.
These two young statesmen, destined to
wield, in different ways, so important an
influence in the counsels of the nation, seem
to have regarded each other with the affec-
tion of brothers. Wilberforce says of his
friend Pitt, " He was the wittiest man I ever
knew, and, what was quite peculiar to him-
self, had at all times his wit under entire
control. Every possible combination of ideas
seemed always present to his mind, and he
could at all times produce whatever he
desired."
3
26 WILLIAM WILBEEFOKCE.
In London, as at Hull and Cambridge,
Wilberforce was the favorite, and had nearly
been the victim of -"society." "I belonged
at this time," he says, " to five clubs. Noth-
ing could be more luxurious than the style
of these. Fox, Sheridan, Fitzpatrick, and
all your leading men frequented them, and
associated upon the easiest terms ; you chat-
ted, played at cards, or gambled as you 4
pleased !"
Among these associations, there was one
which was preferred to all the rest, as a
resort. This was " on the premises of a man
named Groosetree." It consisted of only
twenty-five members, most of whom were
young men who had passed through the
university together, and had also entered
upon public life. " We played a good deal
at Goosetree's," writes Wilberforce. He
then records the eagerness with which his
friend Pitt entered into the amusements
of the gaming-table, and his sudden aban-
donment of them. The clear, strong glance
TEMPTATIONS IN LONDON. 27
of the great statesman revealed to himself
the danger that lurked beneath these excite-
ments, and, spurning the fetters which were
fit only for weaker minds, he threw them
aside for ever.
With this same vice Wilberforce was very
nearly insnared. He quitted the practice
for a reason which well illustrates the gentle
spirit which through life, in boyhood, in
manhood, and even to old age, made him
so beloved. Having on one occasion risen
from the table, the winner of several hundred
pounds, he was so much troubled at the
thought of the losers, of their disappoint-
ment and chagrin, that his success gave
him no pleasure. The pain he felt on their
account went far to cure him of a habit at
once so debasing and ruinous.
Notwithstanding his gayety and love of
pleasure, Mr. Wilberforce was from the first
a close attendant to business, and esteemed
an active member of Parliament. He did
not at once become a speaker. " Attend to
28 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
business/' he said in later life, to a friend
about to enter the House of Commons, " and
do not seek occasions for display ; if you have
a turn for speaking, the proper time will
come."
His first speech was on the 17th of May,
1781, in behalf of his native town, from
which he presented a petition. He then
forcibly attacked the laws of revenue, as
they existed, as oppressive and unjust.
His leisure during the recess of Parlia-
ment was spent in the country. Passionately
attached to the beauties of nature, possessing
that taste which finds delight among woods
and winding streams, he rented a house on
the banks of the Windermere, and amid this
pleasant scenery, with " a goodly assortment
of books/' he was wont to seek for happiness
in the intervals of business. Eetirement
with him, however, was not solitude. Be-
side his mother and sister, to whom he was
tenderly attached, his intimate friends often
took up their abode under his roof.
TEMPTATIONS IN LONDON. 29
His uncle's house at Wimbledon, where
he had passed so happy a portion of his
childhood, was also now his own, and he had,
by a trifling alteration, eight or nine bed-
rooms to spare to his friends. So close an
intimacy now subsisted between " Pitt and
his friend Wilberforce," that the former
appears to have taken quarters at Wim-
bledon whenever he chose, making himself
equally at home in the presence and absence
of its master.
"Eliot, Arden and I," writes Pitt one
summer afternoon, " will be with you before
curfew, and expect an early meal of peas and
strawberries/'
This point of time, with all its varied ob-
jects of interest, was a most critical one in
the life of Wilberforce. His manners so sure
to please, his peculiar and sparkling wit, his
buoyant and kindly spirit, won for him such
a share of applause as is seldom borne with-
out injury. Many, alas ! with far less tempt-
30 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
ation, have stumbled upon dark mountains,
and have fallen to rise no more.
Prone to exercise a most diverting talent
for mimicry, but for the "kindly severity" of
an elderly friend, (Lord Camden,) he might
have valued too highly this power, by the ex-
ercise of which he was wont to " set the table
in a roar." " 'Tis but a vulgar accomplish-
ment," said the old lord slightingly, when
solicited to witness its display. The remark
met the ear of Wilberforce, and his better
judgment told him that it was true.
To the allurements of pleasure were added
those of ambition. Of the supreme power of
this latter over the minds of many in public
life, we have an illustration in the club of the
"Independents." It consisted of members
of the House of Commons, forty in number,
of which Wilberforce was one. The bond
that held them together was the formal re-
solve, to accept of neither "place, pension,
nor peerage." After a lapse of years, so far
had time and circumstances moderated the
TEMPTATIONS IN LONDON. 81
heroism of their independence, that Mr. Wil-
berforce and one other, Mr. Bankes, alone re-
tained their original station. Of the county
members Wilberforce was the only one who
was not raised to the peerage. The attain-
ment of a title was to him not without its
charms, and he had come into public life
under most favorable circumstances. His
own personal qualities, and the friendship of
the foremost man in the nation, seemed to
open to him a brilliant career. So prevalent
at one time was the opinion that he was to
be raised to the upper House, that he re-
ceived various applications for the supply of
his robes for that occasion. But his position
was an independent one, and neither to am-
bition nor friendship would he unreservedly
yield its advantage. " I well remember/' he
says long after, "the pain I felt in being
obliged to vote against Pitt, the second time
he spoke in Parliament." The wish for a
name among the titled nobility of the land
was in the end supplanted by the prevalence
32 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
of that sacred principle, which reveals "a
better country/' and makes the honors of this
world grow little indeed by contrast. The
mingled good sense and piety with which he
writes on this subject, in his maturer years,
is beyond all praise.
About this time (1783) we find Pitt, Wil-
berforce, and another friend, (Eliot,) making
a journey into France, where they met with
divers adventures. At Paris they became
acquainted with La Fayette. They were by
him presented to Doctor Franklin, who cor-
dially greeted Mr. Wilberforce, as " a rising
member of the House of Parliament, who had
opposed the war with America."
From these scenes of pleasure and interest
a special messenger recalled Mr. Pitt to Lon-
don, and Wilberforce followed him about six
weeks later. The month immediately fol-
lowing was a period of great political commo-
tions.
A strong opposition to the measures of the
government existed in the House of Com-
TEMPTATIONS IN LONDON. 33
mons. Mr. Fox, aided by his friend Lord
North, opposed Mr. Pitt, who was now the
Premier of the realm. Illustrious for talent,
eloquence, and noble birth, the opposition
looked with scorn upon the youth of twenty-
four, who dared to take the political field
against them. This trial made manifest to
all, the unequaled powers of the prime min-
ister. Undismayed he upheld the govern-
ment, and, by the strength of his own mighty
mind, swayed the conflicting wills of others.
Of the private counsels as well as the public
labors of this great statesman, Wilberforce
was the sharer. But the onward course of
events was such, that his power to uphold
the administration of Pitt was soon to receive
a ten-fold increase.
Yorkshire, the largest county in England,
with regard to the question at issue had not
yet declared itself. In this country were situ-
ated the landed estates of Wilberforce. He
had however no residence there, and was per-
sonally unknown. Thither he repaired, to
34 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
sustain the cause of the government to which
he had committed himself, and of which his
friend was the leader.
At an immense gathering in the castle
yard in the city of York, Wilberforce was
present. Addresses had been listened to
from speakers on both sides, the day was
" cold and hail falling/' the people weary and
about to separate. Under these unfavorable
circumstances he addressed the assemblage.
Touched by the charms of his eloquence, the
people were held for more than an hour, not-
withstanding cold and storm and weariness.
The beauty and grace of his oratory were ir-
resistible. While serving the cause which he
had espoused, he won hearts for himself, and
before he had ceased to speak, the words
were whispered in the crowd, "We'll have
this man for our county member !"
That in his young aspirations he had en-
tertained this very idea, he himself has in-
formed us. Aware, however, that it might
TEMPTATIONS IN LONDON. 35
be deemed the madness of ambition, he had
never mentioned it. Perhaps he was as
much surprised at his success as were his
friends. Congratulations poured in upon
him. " Danby tells me," writes one, " that
you spoke like an angel."
The whole was the more remarkable on ac-
count of his youth, and the circumstance of
his having no influential friends in the
county. He found himself, on the strength
of his personal qualities, the force of talent
and eloquence, and honest devotion to the
public service, chosen by the people to the
important position of a representative of " a
tenth of England." The opposition party of
the House of Commons was overcome. The
supporters of the administration, the friends
of Pitt, had triumphed on every side. Wilber-
force saw his friend strong in the heart of the
nation, as well as in the House of Parliament.
And now on the very top wave of earthly
glory we see these two noble and gifted
36 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
youth, with all that the world can give of
honor and pleasure soliciting their accept-
ance. But " it is not all of life to live/' and
in a future chapter we will unfold events of
deeper and sublimer interest.
Ill
Very soon after the stirring events just
detailed, we find Mr. Wilberforce about to
set out on a second Continental tour. His
companions were his mother and sister, and
two young cousins, who were invalids. He
speaks of the latter as "very good girls,
whose health we hope to reestablish by a
change of air."
He was accompanied also by his friend
Isaac Milner, at that time a tutor at Cam-
bridge. The ladies occupied one carriage,
and in another rode Wilberforce and Milner.
The latter held religious views of a far morfe
decided character than he was wont to mani-
fest. Like many others, this Cambridge
tutor seems to have had the habit of hiding
38 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
away his most solemn perceptions of divine
truth, so that when on one occasion they
came to be decidedly expressed, Wilberforce
was taken by surprise. Had he been aware
of the religious character of Milner, so far
was he from any desire for such intercourse,
that he himself afterward declared, he
should never have chosen his company in
these travels.
Eeligious topics, however, once introduced,
were frequently discussed by the two. In
argument Wilberforce would sometimes get
the better of the other. "While Milner
treated the subject with becoming reverence,
his more lively companion would use his own
peculiar power of quick and apt reply, to set
aside the arguments that were brought for-
ward. "I am no match for you, Wilber-
force, in this running fire," Milner would re-
ply ; "but if you really wish to discuss these
subjects seidous]y, I will gladly enter upon
them with you."
They traveled into Italy, and having halt-
THE GREAT CHANGE. 39
ed for a time at the ancient town of Nice,
were about to turn their steps homeward.
M "What sort of a book is this ?" said Wil-
berforce, as he casually took up a small vol-
ume, belonging to one of their fellow trav-
elers.
"It is one of the best books ever written/'
replied Milner ; " let us take it with us, and
read it on our journey/'
This book was no other than Doddridge on
the "Eise and Progress of Eeligion in the
Soul."
Life is like a panorama, and its scenes are
continually shifting. The gay young mem-
ber of the club at Goosetree's, the orator
whose subduing eloquence had so won the
hearts of men under the shadow of the York
Minster, the child of pleasure and ambition,
is now seated in a traveling coach with his
honest friend Milner, and together they are
considering the great problem of man's apos-
tasy from God, and the deeper mystery of
his return. They read " of sin, of righteous-
40 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
ness, of judgment/' of the blessedness of
communion with God, of the gift of eternal
life through Jesus Christ. Thoughtlessness
is for the time banished, and raillery is dumb,
and wit has laid aside her archery. The re-
sult of this reading was, that Wilberforce de-
termined to examine the scriptures for him-
self.
The journey homeward was made with
Milner alone. The ladies of the . party were
left behind to enjoy the soft airs of Italy,
while political movements recalled the repre-
sentative of Yorkshire to London.
The journey was not without its adven-
tures. Leaving the sunny regions of South-
ern Europe behind them, they crossed the
mountains amid the snows of winter. Hav-
ing, on one occasion, climbed a steep and
frozen road, the weight of the carriage over-
powered the horses. They were only saved
from plunging over a frightful precipice, by
the great strength of Milner, who happened
to be on foot in the rear of the carriage.
THE GREAT CHANGE. 41
"February 22d they reached London, and
Wilberforce records in his journal, " Took up
my quarters at Pitt's/' Here he again be-
came immersed in politics and society. The
truths, in the study of which he had been en-
gaged, had convinced his understanding, but
had not yet power to induce the consecration
of the soul to God. His former thoughtless-
ness had however been interrupted, and oc-
casional traces of serious reflection may be
gleaned from the journals of this winter.
The session of Parliament, though expect-
ed to terminate in May, lasted till the end
of June. At the end of that time Wilber-
force again started to meet the former party
at Genoa, and again Milner was his com-
panion. The Greek Testament was now the
book they were wont to read together, ex-
amining carefully the doctrines contained
within its pages. So interesting had these
topics now become, that the ladies of the
party complained of Wilberforce that he so
seldom visited their carriage. His com-
4*
42 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
panions little knew what was passing in his
mind. His outward manner and appearance
were not changed, but the great truths that
had been impressed upon his mind had be-
gun to take possession of his soul. He says
of himself, " I had received into my under-
standing the great truths of the gospel, and
believed that its offers were free and univer-
sal ; and that God had promised to give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask for it." To this
he adds a most important clause, which, from
the nature of his habits and associates, pos-
sesses an added interest : " I now began to
pray earnestly. 39
Again he says, "As soon as I began to
reflect on these subjects, the deep guilt and
black ingratitude of my past life forced itself
upon me in the strongest colors, and I con-
demned myself for having wasted my precious
time, opportunities and talents."
In this state he returned home. An inter-
val of three months before the assembling of
Parliament gave him time for retirement and
THE GREAT CHANGE. 43
meditation. This period he spent at Wim-
bledon. His impressions were thus deep-
ened. "It was not so much," he writes,
"the fear of punishment by which I was
affected, as a sense of my great sinfulness in
having so long neglected the unspeakable
mercies of my Grod and Saviour ; and such
was the effect which this thought produced,
that for months I was in a state of the deep-
est depression from strong convictions of my
guilt. Indeed nothing which I have ever
read, in the accounts of others, exceeded
what I then felt."
In a journal which he commenced about
this time, we find the following, which
reveals the dawning of Christian hope.
November 28, 1785 : " I hope as long as I
live to be the better for the meditation of
this evening. It was on the sinfulness of my
heart, its blindness and weakness. True,
Lord, I am wretched and miserable and blind
and naked. What infinite love, that Christ
should die to save such a sinner, and how
44 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
necessary is it that He should save us alto-
gether, that we may appear before God with
nothing of our own ! God grant that I may
not deceive myself in thinking I feel the
beginnings of Gospel comfort."
To this, so full of self-renunciation and
that poverty of spirit to which the Saviour
has annexed his blessing, the journal adds :
"Began this night constant family prayer,
and resolved to have it morning and evening,
and to read a chapter when time/'
With a simplicity of spirit peculiarly his
own, he adds, two days after : " Forgot to
set down that when my servants came in the
first time to family prayer, I felt ashamed."
He now began to feel the need of counsel.
Hitherto the change in the inner man had
been wrought in solitude, by the study of the
Bible, by secret seeking after God. He now
looked for converse with some other Chris-
tian. Sympathy he must have — to some
other heart he must make known that which
THE GREAT CHANGE. 45
so stirred the depths of his own. Not that
his feelings had been wholly concealed.
From his retreat he had written to some
of his boon companions of his altered views
of life. Especially did he feel that he owed
this to his friend Pitt, and accordingly wrote
to him fully of his changed views of spiritual
subjects, and of the bearing of his religious
principles upon political life.
This was frankly and nobly done. The
manner in which it was received by the
prime- minister had the effect to endear him
still more to his friend. What so touches
the sensitive heart of the young Christian as
when to the story of the soul's new life his
bosom friend listens with kindness, with
respect, yet without sharing in its emotions ?
Such, in the retirement of Wimbledon, was
the interview of Pitt and Wilberforce. "I
had prayed," says the latter, as he records
the interview, "to Grod, I hope with some
sincerity, not to lead me into disputing for
my own exaltation, but for his glory. Con-
46 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
versed with Pitt near two hours, and opened
myself completely to him/'
Much as Wilberforce felt at this crisis of
his being in need of counsel and assistance,
he shrunk for a time from seeking it. He at
last made choice of one whose name is still
as a household word among the followers of
Christ. The Eev. John Newton was at this
time pastor of St. Mary Wooinooth, in Lon-
don. Singularly strong in his perceptions of
religious truth, his modes of illustrating it
had the quaintness and piquancy that spring
from an active fancy, chastened and purified
by a life of faith and heavenly love. He was
now advanced in life, and knew perhaps
better than any man living the trials and
dangers of the soul, in its efforts to return to
God. To him Wilberforce repaired, opening
the way by a few lines.
"December 2, 1785.
"To the Ret. John Newton:
u Sir, — There is no need of apology foi
intruding on you, when the errand is religion
THE GEEAT CHANGE. 47
I wish to have some serious conversation with
you, and will take the liberty of calling on
you in half an hour ; when, if you can not
receive me, you will have the goodness to let
me have a letter put into my hands at the
door, naming a time and place for our meet-
ing — the earlier the more agreeable to me.
I have had ten thousand doubts whether I
should reveal myself to you, but every argu-
ment against doing it has its foundation in
pride. I am sure you will hold yourself bound
to let no man living know of this applica-
tion till I release you from the obligation."
This was written on Friday, and by him-
self handed to Mr. Newton at church the
following Sunday. The next Wednesday
was named for an interview. He repaired, at
the time appointed, to the house of the pas-
tor. But it is not always an easy matter to
open the soul's most sacred and hidden
thoughts to the eye of another, and it was
with an agitated spirit that he proceeded.
48 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
" Once or twice" he made the circuit of the
square before, as he says, " I could persuade
myself." The effect of the interview was
most happy. "When I came away/' he
writes, U I found my mind in a calm, tian-
quil state, more humbled, and looking up
more devoutly to God."
It is worthy of remark that in this conver-
sation Mr. Newton mentioned the name of
John Thornton. He it was who so long
before had taught his young kinsman to
" remember the poor," and he had so spoken
of him to Mr. Newton as to awaken in the
warm heart of the minister of the Gospel a
hope that the gifts of Wilberforce might yet
be consecrated to the service of Christ. Had
not the pious and excellent Thornton even
until now remembered before God in prayer
the endeared child who at twelve years old
had given such promise of piety ? Might
not these prayers have been as a shield,
invisible and yet real, amid subsequent
scene^of danger and seduction ?
THE GEEAT CHANGE. 49
Mr. Wilberforce had now made known his
position, and was strengthened by this act.
Yet were the early days of his Christian life
marked by fluctuation and struggle. It had
been a part of Mr. Newton's advice that he
should not make sudden changes with regard
to society at large, nor " widely separate from
former friends/' On this he acted, with those
limitations which obviously suggested them-
selves. The club missed a favorite member.
The admirer of Mrs. Siddons was seen no
more at the play. From the claims of friend-
ship, the demands incident to a public life,
he did not withdraw.
We recur to his journal :
"Went as I had promised to Pitt's — sad
work. I went there in fear, and for some
time kept an awe on my mind. My feelings
lessened in the evening, and I could scarce
lift up myself in prayer to G-od at night."
Again, after another visit * " My mind in a
sad state this evening — could scarcely pray 5
but will hope and wait on God."
5
50 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
Even amid these scenes, however, he now
begins to look upon things in a more sober
light. He says in his journal : " At the
levee, and then dined at Pitt's — sort of cabi-
net dinner. Was often thinking that pom-
pous Thurlow, and elegant Carmarthen,
would soon appear in the same row with the
poor fellow who waited behind their chairs."
" December 12th. More fervent, I hope, in
prayer. Eesolved more in God's strength, there-
fore, I hope, likely to keep my resolutions."
" 13th. I hope I feel more need of Divine
assistance. May I be enabled to submit to it
in distrust of myself. I do not know what to
make of myself, but I resolve under God to
go on. Much struck with Mr. Newton's nar-
rative, where he says he once persevered for
two years and went back again. Oh, may I
be preserved from relapse ! And yet, if I
can not stand it now, what shall I do when
the struggle comes on in earnest ? I am too
intent upon shining in company, %nd must
curb myself here."
THE GKEAT CHANGE. 51
Amid the record of struggles and depress-
ions, brighter days are beginning to dawn.
December 20th he writes : " More enlarged
and sincere in prayer. Went to hear Ro-
maine. Dined at the Adelphi ; both before
and after was much affected by seriousness.
Went to hear Forster, who was very good ;
enabled to join in the prayers with my whole
heart, and never so happy in my life as this
whole evening— enlarged in private prayer,
and have a good hope toward G-od. Got up
Wednesday morning in the same frame of
mind, and filled with peace and hope and
humility, yet some doubt if all this is real or
will be lasting. — Newton's church — he has
my leave to mention my case to my aunt,
and Mr. Thornton. I trust Grod is with me,
but he must ever keep beside me ; for I fall
the moment I am left to myself. I stayed in
town to attend the ordinances, and have been
gloriously blest in them."
Soon after he receives an affectionate note
from Mr. Thornton. This excellent Christian
52 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
friend invites Mr. Wilberforce to his house,
for the enjoyment of retired life and Chris-
tian sympathy. This latter was just what at
this time he most needed, and this under the
roof of his friend he found. He now speaks
of the promises and grace of Christ, and very
soon we find him endeavoring to induce his
beloved and only sister to share in his new-
found happiness. After a Sabbath spent at
Stoke with Mr. Unwin, he writes :
" Can my dear sister wonder that I call on
her to participate in the pleasure I am tast-
ing ? I know how you sympathize in the
happiness of those you love, and I could not
therefore forgive myself were I to keep my
raptures to myself, and not invite you to par-
take of my enjoyment. * * * * May
every Sabbath be to me, and to those I love,
a renewal of these feelings, of which the
small tastes we have in this life should make
us look forward to that eternal rest which re-
mains for the people of God/'
17.
filial anfo JfrstKttsI f #*#*
He who wastes time can not be preparing
for eternity. When Mr. Wilberforce looked
back on the follies of his earlier years, his
throngs of gay friends who had helped him
to waste so many precious hours, he was
filled with regret. This showed itself, not in
idle repinings, but in a systematic endeavor
to redeem the time. To accomplish this, he
formed a system for the disposition of those
hours which were at his command. His
biographer thus mentions this period of his
life : u Various and accurate were now his
studies ; but the book which he most care-
fully studied, and by which perhaps above
all others his mental faculties were perfected,
was the holy scripture. This he read and
54 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
weighed and pondered over, studying its
connection and details, and mastering espe-
cially, in their own tongue, the apostolical
epistles. This was his chief occupation at
Wilford. It was now his daily care to
instruct his understanding and discipline his
heart/'
These plans so diligently and perseveringly
pursued were thwarted by one obstacle by
which many would have been discouraged.
We refer to a constitutional weakness of the
eyes, which followed him through life, occa-
sioning great inconvenience, and often com-
pelling him to lay aside both book and
pen.
Poorly adapted indeed were the habits of
gayety in which up to his twenty-fifth year
he had indulged, for increasing the power of
thought, or of duly regulating it. Always
rapid in his movements, his mind possessed a
singular power of turning itself with electric
swiftness from one brilliant train of thought
to another, and again unexpectedly branching
FILIAL AND FRATERNAL LOVE. 55
forth in a flow of new ideas of an entirely-
opposite character. His faculty of diffusing
such a glow of social life over the festive
scenes he had so adorned added not a little
to his powers of entertainment. But it is
easily seen that the excess of this destroyed
the power of serious thought. When the
love of G-od and the desire of pleasing and
serving him found place in the soul, we find
that the Christian mourned in secret that
his thoughts were so clothed with wings as
to be incapable of fixing themselves even in
the most solemn services. The conflicts of
this period are revealed in his journals.
July 30, 1786, he says: "At church I
wander more than ever, and can'scarce keep
awake — my thoughts are always straying.
Do thou, God, set my affections on purer
pleasures. Every night I have to look back
upon a day misemployed, or not improved
with fervency and diligence. Grod, do
thou enable me to live more to thee, to
look to Jesus with a single eye, and by
56 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
degrees to have the new nature implanted
in me, and the heart of stone removed. The
sense of God's presence seldom stays on
my mind when I am in company, and at
times I even have doubts and difficulties
about the truth of the great doctrines of
Christianity."
The piety to which in lat^r days he
attained, the fixedness of the soul upon
heavenly things, strangely enough contrasts
with the struggles that marked the religious
life in its beginnings.
Of all the delusions to which a young Chris-
tian is subject, perhaps the greatest and the
( most prevalent in our day is the idea that
when the soul has received its first gift
of faith and love, and is regarded by others
as a partaker of the grace of God, the work
is done, the goal is attained, the soul may
now sit down at its ease, only interrupted,
it may be, by some sudden and short-lived
efforts. Had Wilberforce thus paused at the
threshold of the Christian life, thus been
FILIAL AND FRATERNAL LOVE. 57
content to follow "afar off" the Saviour,
asking not how much of union with God
it was his privilege to enjoy, hut how little
of piety would secure an entrance to Heaven,
the Church would have lost one of the most
valiant soldiers of the Cross, one of the
most beautiful exemplifiers of the power
of Christianity. Nor this alone. The world
would have missed the exercise of that
expansive love which toiled so long and so
unflinchingly for the outcasts of mankind.
To efforts for the good of others Mr.
Wilberforce seems to have been continually
led. No sooner was he taught by the Spirit
of God to discern the reality and blessedness
of the spiritual life than he hastens to com-
municate his new-born joy. An extract from
a letter to his sister closes the last chapter,
and furnishes an illustration of this remark.
Whatever ascendency over her mind was his
by nature or habit, he used it all to allure
her into those pleasant paths upon which he
had himself entered. His letters to her
58 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
present the tenderest picture of fraternal
love, that will not rest till assured that its
object is a partaker of the blessings of the
Grospel. Fond and kind as are these epistles,
they are yet interspersed with strict and
discriminating views of duty and truth faith-
fully urged.
"What my heart now impels me to say
to you/' he writes, "is i Search the Scrip-
tures,' and with all that earnestness and
constancy which that book claims, in which
are the words of eternal life. Never read it
without praying to God that he will open
your eyes to understand it, for the power
of comprehending it comes from him and
him only. c Seek and ye shall find/ says
our Saviour ; c Take heed how ye hear f
which implies that unless we seek, and
diligently too, we shall not find, and unless
we take heed we shall be deceived in hearing.
There is no opinion so fatal as that which
is commonly received in these liberal days,
that a person is in a safe state with regard
FILIAL AND FRATERNAL LOVE. 59
to a future world, if lie acts tolerably up to
his knowledge and convictions, though lie
may not have taken much pains about
acquiring that knowledge, or fixing those
convictions."
Again, after urging the performance of
a duty, he says : " Let me guard you against
thinking that there will be any great singu-
larity in this : it is one of those things
wherein the duty is so obvious and binding
that in doing it there can be little exertion ;
in leaving it undone, great blame. * * *
May it please God, my dear sister, for
Christ's sake to make you abound more
and more in every good work. May your
heart be comforted, your views cleared, your
faith strengthened, your love confirmed.
Here indeed I believe (for I have the
declaration from the best of men) we must
groan, being burdened. Alas ! what "cause
have I for groaning ! But let us wait on
G-od with continual prayers for the influence
of His blessed Spirit to render us daily fitted
60 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
for a better world, where all sin, as well as
sorrow, shall cease for ever."
Again he writes encouragingly :
" In receiving the Lord's supper we make
a public profession of our being willing to
risk our all on Christ, and to appear before
our Maker, relying on His merits alone for
our favorable acceptance with Him ; we also
solemnly devote ourselves to His service, and
declare that we will endeavor to live to His
glory, as those whom he has purchased, &c.
Now in all this you could join from the bot-
tom of your heart, and if fears and hesitation
and doubts distract you, remember the poor
man in the gospel, c Lord, I believe ; help
Thou my unbelief/
" ! my dearest sister, how glorious a
change will it be, if ever we all meet beyond
the reach of those chances and accidents to
which we are exposed in this uncertain state
of existence, and with hearts overflowing
with gratitude towards that Saviour, who so
loved us that He gave Himself for us, to suf-
FILIAL AND FRATERNAL LOVE. 61
fer death upon the Cross, to enter into pos-
session of that happiness which knows no
limit of degree or duration. May our con-
nections be so formed as to be thus continued
beyond the grave, that with those whom we
most affectionately regard and value, we may
dwell forever, where there is fullness of joy
and pleasures for evermore !
May God Almighty bless you, my dearest
sister, and calm and tranquilize your mind
here, and conduct you to happiness hereafter."
This mingled faithfulness and love were
well repaid. Miss Wilberforce became a
Christian, remarkable through life for humil-
ity and self-distrust, and scrupulous regard
for the right. For the religious doubts and
scruples which at times beclouded her mind,
she found in her brother at once an affection-
ate adviser and a hopeful guide.
The mother of Wilberforce seems by no
means to have approved, in its beginning, of
6
62 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE
his religious course. Endowed with much
that was lovely and valuable in character,
she appears to have had a great dread of re-
ligious excitement, or a zeal beyond what
was common. When a rumor of his inward
change reached her, she feared, she hardly
knew what, of eccentricitv. How will he
appear ? How make manifest this new en-
thusiasm ? Soon however he visited her.
The most obvious change was a more tender
and deferential regard to herself. Always
amiable and kind, there was now a gentler
forbearance, a more thoughtful love, a
stronger control over a temper naturally im-
pulsive. Her son was not lost — no ; he was
restored, clothed with new excellences.
Far short too as the influences of his edu-
cation fell of the standard which he had
adopted, he renders grateful acknowledgment
not only for the affection that blest his early
years, but for the religious instruction also.
This was by no means a spirit of timidity, or
undue conciliation. When occasion called,
FILIAL AND FRATERNAL LOVE. 63
he could express forcibly his differing views.
On a point of conscience, on the subject of
theatrical amusement s, he says : "I must
speak out. When I reflect that I shall
have to account for my answer at the bar of
the great Judge of quick and dead, I cannot,
I dare not withhold or smooth over my
opinion/' He adds : " I trust my dear mo-
ther will do justice to the motives which have
compelled me thus to express myself."
This justice was eventually rendered by
this parent, herself possessed of many shining
excellences of character. Her prejudices
were overcome, her religious views deepened,
the sours refuge sought. " Remember me in
your prayers/' was her fervent request in
after years, of the son whose piety she had so
distrusted.
This affectionate plainness on subjects
which he regarded of the highest moment
appears often in letters of friendship. An
extract follows from a letter to one of the
64 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
most amiable and beloved of his early cor-
respondents, Lord Muncaster. This is writ-
ten in 1786, and affords an illustration of the
nature of this influence in the first year of his
public religious life.
"0 my dear Muncaster, how can we go
on as if present things were to last for ever,
when so often reminded ' that the fashion of
this world passeth away/ Every day I live,
I see greater reason in considering this life
but as a passage to another. And when
summoned to the tribunal of God, to give an
account of all things we have done in the
body, how shall we be confounded by the
recollection of those many instances in which
we have relinquished a certain eternal for an
uncertain transitory good ! You are not in-
sensible to these things, but you think of
them rather as a follower of Socrates than as
a disciple of Jesus. You see how frankly I
deal with you ; in truth I can no otherwise so
well show the interest I take in your happi-
ness. These thoughts are uppermost in my
FILIAL AND FRATERNAL LOVE. 65
heart, and they will come forth when I do
not repress my natural emotions. Oh that
they had a more prevailing influence over my
disposition and conduct ; then might I hope
to afford men occasion c to glorify our Father
which is in Heaven f and I should manifest
the superiority of the principle that actuated
me, by the more than ordinary spirit and ac-
tivity by which my parliamentary, my domes-
tic, and all my other duties were marked
and characterized.
6*
The next year (1787) Mr. Wilberforce was
early in London. A constant attendant in
the House of Commons, awake always to the
interests of his constituents, he was yet in-
tent upon a work for the good of the country
at large. This was the obtaining of a Eoyal
Proclamation for the suppression of im-
morality.
That at this time there prevailed great
laxity of morals, there is abundant reason to
believe. The mass of men, gay and busy,
seemed to have forgotten the future life.
Those who were looked upon as Christians,
too often prized the outward form rather
than the inward power. Even among the
ministers of religion, indifference prevailed to
SUPPRESSION OF IMMORALITY. 67
a great extent. So plain was it that the
state of public morals was ruinously low, that
men of different views, who loved their coun-
try's good, hailed with joy the King's Proc-
lamation. This was to be followed by an as-
sociated effort to carry out in practice its
spirit and letter.
Nearly a century before this time, a " So-
ciety for the Eeformation of Manners" had
existed, and its history, written by Dr.
Woodward, had been to Mr. Wilberforce a
prompter to a similar effort. The object of
the earlier society had been two-fold ; the
religious growth of its members being the
first, the suppression of immorality the sec-
ond. " I am convinced," wrote Mr. Wilber-
force to his friend Mr. Hey, " that ours is an
infinitely inferior aim ; yet surely it is of the
utmost consequence, and worthy of the labors
of a whole life."
Warmly enlisted in this object, he endeav-
ored to arouse among his numerous friends a
spirit of resistance to the vices of the times ;
68 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
the gayety and dissipation, which, pervading
the higher ranks of life, were imitated by
every other. Looking upon society as it ex-
isted around him, knowing well from what he
had been rescued, his heart burned to save
others also. A member of the National
Church, his first attempt was to interest the
bishops in the object, and induce them to
become members and patrons of the associa-
tion. He determined for this end, at the
close of the parliamentary session, to travel
about the country and call on these prelates
at their several residences. In this he spent
considerable time, and obtained the counte-
nance of many of the clergy, inducing them
to become the active promoters of the plan.
He also called on several others. In these
self-denying labors he was no stranger to re-
buffs and discouragements.
" So you wish, young man/' said one, " to
be a reformer of men's morals."
Before them hung a painting. It was the
scene of the Crucifixion,
SUPPRESSION OF IMMORALITY. 69
" See what is the end of reformers."
If by this it was intended to discourage the
young pleader for righteousness, the pictured
presence of his Lord had perhaps a contrary
effect.
These labors seem to have been attended
with a good degree of success. The society
was soon in active and useful operation, and
did much in its day to check the outrages
upon decency and morality which were
prevalent.
Being well established, Mr. Wilberforce
left its interests in charge of others, and ab-
senting himself from London, after a tour
into Devonshire, fixed himself for a season at
Bath.
Here he had leisure for meditation. " By
God's help," he writes in his journal, " I will
set vigorously about reform. I believe one
cause of my having fallen so short is because
I have aimed no higher. Lord Bacon says,
great changes are easier than small ones.
Eemember thy situation, abounding with
70 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
comforts, requires thee to be peculiarly on
thy guard, lest when thou hast eaten and art
full thou forget God/'
Not far from this time an excellent work
was issued from the London press. It was
entitled, " Thoughts on the Importance of
the Manners of the Great to General So-
ciety/' This book was attributed to the pen
of Mr. Wilberforce. In its pages the king's
mandate was mentioned with evident pleas-
ure ; and while minute familiarity with the
forms of polite life was betrayed, certain
prevalent customs were examined and com-
pared with the New Testament. It was a
good book, but Mr. Wilberforce was not its
author. It spoke so well his views of re-
ligious and moral obligation, that we may
suppose he could hardly have been displeased
at the mistake. The real author was Miss
Hannah More, who, having lived much in the
great world, and gained great celebrity in the
literary circles of London, had but lately re-
tired to a home of her own in the country,
SUPPRESSION OF IMMORALITY. 71
where she devoted her time to the writing of
such works as were calculated to promote re-
ligion. With this lady Wilberforce became
acquainted. "I find here/' she wrote from
Bath in 1787, "a great many friends, but
those with whom I have chiefly passed my
time are Mr. Wilberforce's family. That
young gentleman's character is the most ex-
traordinary I ever knew, for talents, virtue,
and piety. It is difficult not to grow wiser
and better every time one converses with
him."
His views of life and duty may be gathered
from a letter written a little before this to
his mother.
"It is evident that we are to consider our
peculiar situations, and in these to do all the
good we can. Some men are thrown into
public, some have their lot in private life.
These different states have their correspond-
ing duties ; and he whose destination is of
the former sort will do as ill to immure
72 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
himself in solitude as lie who is only a village
Hampden would were lie to head an army or
to address a senate.
" What I have said will, I hope, be suffi-
cient to remove any apprehensions that I
mean to shut myself up either in my closet
in town, or in my hermitage in the country.
No, my dear mother, in my circumstances
this would merit no better name than deser-
tion ; and if I were thus to fly from the post
where Providence has placed me, I know not
how I could look for the blessing of G-od
upon my retirement ; and without this heav-
enly assistance, either in the world or in
solitude, our own endeavors will be equally
ineffectual. .
" I feel that I am serving Grod best when
most actively engaged in the business of life.
What humbles me, is the sense that I forego
so many opportunities of doing good ; and
it is my constant prayer that Grod will enable
me to serve him more steadily, and my fel-
low-creatures more assiduously."
VI
A new era had already coiainenced in the
parliamentary career of Wilberforce.
The attention of many humane persons in
England had been turned to the subject of
the African slave-trade. This traffic, toward
the close of the last century, still existed,
unchecked either by legal statute or public
opinion. On the bosom of the Thames the
slave-ship floated securely, and without
restraint was accustomed to go and return.
In the open light of day were these vessels
fitted up with every facility for packing hu-
man beings who were forcibly removed from
their native land and sold in foreign climes.
Checked for a season by the war of the
7
74 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
American Kevolution, the trade liad recently
"been greatly revived.
The labors of the early opponents of
slavery, commenced some years before this
time, had not however been without effi-
ciency. The perseverance of Granville
Sharpe had caused to be promulgated
among the people the great principle of
the British constitution, that " Every man
in England is free to sue for and defend his
rights, and that force can not he used with-
out legal process." By a strength of moral
courage that would not be damped by any
opposition, he had won from the judges of
the law the decision that " As soon as any
slave sets his foot upon English territory he
becomes free/' Oowper, in the immortal
lines beginning, ^ Slaves can not breathe in
England," had embalmed in the public heart
the action of the law. The untiring investi-
gations of Clarkson into the minute details
of the trade had been pursued for some time,
and several excellent publications issued, at
THE SLAVE-TRADE. 75
D
the head of which may he placed the prize
essay which bore his name. This seemed to
be as far as the friends of freedom had been
able to proceed. There was among them no
one of sufficient political influence to move
the arm of government to put an end to this
outrage.
Many religious persons felt deeply on the
sin of wresting from the African his rights,
and dooming him to a life of bondage. " If
persevered in after the period of investiga-
tion/' wrote John Newton, than whom no
one had greater means of knowing its nature
and effects, " it will constitute a national sin,
and that of a very deep dye/'
Among the early advocates for the slave
was the Rev, James Eamsay. A clergyman
of the national church, he had resided many
years in one of the West India islands. He
had thus become familiar with slavery in its
haunts, and on his return to England wrote
and conversed on this subject in such a man-
ner as awoke against him much opposition.
76 WILLIAM WILBERFORCB.
Those with whom he had "been on terms
of friendship when abroad, bitterly cam-
plained of the indelicacy that lifted the vail
from their domestic institutions.
Mr. Eamsay, at the time of which we
speak ? was on a footing of intimacy with the
family of Sir Charles Middleton. His state-
ments afforded themes for frequent conver-
sation, and the heart of Lady Middleton
became so deeply moved that she would not
suffer the matter to rest. What was want-
ing was evidently some one to espouse the
cause, and give a voice and expression to the
feelings afloat in the community.
Lady Middleton entreated of her husband,
who was himself a member of Parliament, to
bring it forward and demand an investiga-
tion.
" It would be in bad hands/' replied Sir
Charles, " if committed to me, who have
never made a speech in the House in my
life."
Who then is the fit person ?
THE SLAVE-TRADE. 77
Mr. Wilberforce was mentioned — his tal-
ents, his surpassing eloquence, his devotion
to truth and' virtue, his friendship with the
prime-minister.
Sir Charles was prevailed on by Lady
Middleton, whose zeal would admit of no
delay, to write immediately to him.
Of this application Wilberforce has said :
" It was just one of the many impulses which
were all giving my mind one direction."
Others beside the breakfast-party at Lady
Middleton's had fixed upon the same individ-
ual as the only one who could effectually
become the champion of this cause. To
introduce it into Parliament, and to uphold
it when introduced, required a leader of
peculiar powers. Edmund Burke, the great
advocate for East India reform, had, in 1780,
attempted this also, but had been obliged to
abandon it. The evil, so plain to his far-
seeing vision, was hidden from the eyes of the
British merchants, who had chosen him to
represent their interests. It could not be
78 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
done by a political partisan ; it must be
done by one of independent position, and
above all by one wlio could u combine and so
render irresistible the scattered sympathies
of the religious classes/'
But these expressed opinions were by no
means the moving power that induced in
Mr. Wilberforce that devotion to the cause
which marked his life. Some years before, he
had written to a friend going to the West
Indies, commissioning him to collect facts on
this subject, and he had even then expressed
the hope, almost a prophetic one, that some
time or other he should " redress the wrongs
of these wretched and degraded beings."
In boyhood even he had written an article
for a public journal on the " odious traffic in
human flesh." We may add that the native
characteristics of his heart, his kindness, sen-
sitiveness, strong sense of justice, and up-
rightness, were all adapted to enlist him in
this subject. His native powers, without the
influence of religion, might very probably
THE SLAVE-TRADE. 79
xi^e led him to adopt this conrse. But they
would scarcely have held him to the work.
Alluding to the beginning of his parliament-
ary life, he says, " personal distinction was
then my darling object." How soon would
this and every secondary motive have failed
in the trying contest, let those who have em-
barked in it attest. No arm, save that
Almighty strength, on which he had now
learned to lean, could have held a mind like
his, so perseveringly, through long years of
watching and waiting, of peril and opposition.
In enlisting in this peculiar service of human-
ity, the very greatness of the evil so appals
the heart, the apathy of others appears so re-
volting, that the power of looking steadily at
the object seems too often to be taken away.
All honor then be given to those who, in the
dawning of its first day, upheld with steady
hand and Christian heart this great cause —
but no ; we pause. Let us rather render
praise to that Almighty goodness, which was
pleased in those early periods to set in motion
80 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
moral causes, which, have not yet ceased to
operate, but which reach even to our own
times, and shall never cease to work, till the
last shackle shall have been broken, and the
last victim of slavery redeemed.
For the basis of the arguments to be
brought forward, a body of distinct facts was
necessary. In order to this, Mr. Pitt issued
a summons to the Privy Council to examine,
as a board of trade, the commercial inter-
course with Africa. Certain witnesses were
deputed by the African merchants to appear
before the council. These undertook to es-
tablish, not only the policy but the absolute
humanity of the trade ! We smile at these
as barbarians ; yet is it not well, when self-
interest comes in competition with the justice
due to every human being, to consider in
what light any proceeding may be viewed,
when it shall have become a fact on the page
of history ?
Before this, however, the friends of aboli-
tion had united, and formed themselves into
THE SLAVE-TRADE. 81
a committee for the purpose of raising
funds and collecting information. Their first
meeting consisted of twelve, most of whom
were London merchants, and the greater part
Quakers. Of this body Granville Sharpe was
elected chairman. Though small at first, it
rapidly increased. The labors of Olarkson
were unremitting. The voluminous results
of his labors astonished Mr. Pitt, who, on one
occasion, expressed some doubt as to the
truth of certain statements. Upon further
acquaintance their accuracy and minuteness
overwhelmed him with conviction. This
committee, at the suggestion of Mr. Wil-
berforce, prepared evidence and witnesses,
which they opposed to the assertions of the
friends of the African merchants.
These movements could not be in prog-
ress without greatly arousing the public
mind. Here is a liftle glimpse of the man-
ner in which many felt and talked in that
day. Hannah More thus writes to her
friend, Mrs. Carter :
82 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
" This most important cause, the project
to abolish the slave-trade in Africa, has v.ery
much occupied my thoughts this summer.
The young gentleman, Mr. Wilberforce, who
has embarked in it with the zeal of an apos-
tle, has been much with me, and engaged all
my little interest and all my affections in it.
My dear friend, be sure to canvass every body
who has a heart. It is a subject too ample
for a letter, and I shall have a great deal to
say to you when we meet. To my feelings
it is the most interesting subject which was
ever discussed in the annals of humanity."
Again, she writes : "I am busily engaged
on a poem to be called ■ Slavery/ I grieve I
did not set about it sooner, as it must now
be done in such a hurry as no poem should
ever be written in, to be properly correct.
But bad or good, if it does not come out at
the particular moment ^lien the discussion
comes on in Parliament, it will not be worth
a straw"
Just at this time the chosen leader of this
THE SLAVE-TRADE. 83
great and humane enterprise was laid aside
by dangerous illness. It seemed but too
probable that death was about to remove
him from the post assigned to him ; and
to which he alone seemed fitted. This was
to his fellow-laborers a most unexpected
blow. A consultation of physicians ended
in the declaration that " he had not stamina
to last a fortnight." He was removed from
London to Bath, little expecting to return.
He himself, however, seems not to have
given up entirely the hope of recovery.
From Bath he writes : u Behold me a
banished man from London, and from
business. It is no more than I expect,
if my constituents vote my seat abdicated,
and proceed to elect another representative.
However, I hope I shall yet be enabled to
do them and the public some service."
Before leaving London, however, he had
secured an interview with Mr. Pitt. To him,
in case of his own death, he committed the
African cause. The prime-minister of Eng-
84 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
land bent in tendermess over the couch of his
apparently dying friend, and assured him
that even were the leader removed, the cause
should not die. With much feeling Wilber-
force wrote of this interview : " He has
promised me, if I desire it, to do all for me
that, if I were an efficient man, it would he
proper for me to do myself. This is all I
can now say ; I might add more were we side
"by side on my sofa/'
The session of Parliament was advancing.
The inquiry was afloat, " Can nothing he
done ?" The London committee, aware of
the loss incurred, and unwilling to make
any change, insisted that if at last Mr.
Wilberforce could do nothing, "they should
leave to him the selection of his substitute.*'
But he was now so reduced as to be unable
to read their letters. At this emergency the
prime-minister informed the chairman of the
committee of the pledge he had given. This
he was now ready to redeem. Accordingly
on the 5th of May, 1788, Mr. Pitt brought
THE SLAVE-TRADE. 85
forward a motion that would secure the
introduction of the subject early the next
session. Notwithstanding his wish to prevent
premature debate, a warm discussion fol-
lowed the motion. Mr. Fox declared him-
self, almost without reserve, in favor of
abolition. Mr. Burke, now in the decline
of life, appeared its decided friend. Much
sympathy was expressed for Mr. Wilberforce,
and desires for his restoration. "It is bet-
ter/' said Mr. Fox, "that the cause should
be in his hands than in mine ; from him
I honestly believe that it will come with
more weight, more authority, more proba-
bility of success." The general question was
postponed. Curiosity had, however, been
awakened, and a number of the members
visited a slave-ship then fitting out in the
river Thames. Pity and indignation took
possession of them. Sir W. Dolben brought
forward a bill for the immediate check of
these cruelties. The slave merchants were
loud in their complaints. Notwithstanding
86 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
this, the bill, after some discussion and an
assurance to the friends of abolition that it
was but a temporary relief, and not a
remedy, passed both Houses, and became a
law.
Mr. Wilberforce from his retirement was
now able to watch the proceedings. Con-
trary to the opinions of the physicians, he
was evidently gaining strength. The fol-
lowing summer found him with his mother
and sister at his Westmoreland home. His
health was as yet but partially restored.
Such was the interest awakened in his
behalf that during the summer he was over-
whelmed with visitors. This was unfavorable
to recovery, and he writes in his journal to
this effect : " The life I am now leading is
unfavorable in all respects both to mind and
body ; as little suitable to me, considered
as an invalid, under all the circumstances
of my situation, as it is unbecoming my char-
acter and profession as a Christian,"
" This place/' he wrote to Mr. Newton,
THE SLAVE-TBADE. 87
just before lie quitted Westmoreland,
ff wherein I looked this summer for much
solitude and' quiet, has proved very different
from retirement. The tour to the lakes has
become so fashionable that the banks of the
Thames are scarcely more public than are
those of Windermere. You little knew what
you were doing when you wished yourself
with me in Westmoreland. My experience
will not, I trust, be wasted upon me, and I
shall lay my plans in future with more judg-
ment and circumspection. At this moment
my cottage overflows with guests/'
This was his last summer at this rural
home. When his lease had expired, he
thought it on the whole best to give up the
house.
The following winter was spent in London.
Again he yearns for more solitude and better
opportunity for religious meditation. . " This
perpetual hurry of business ruins me in soul
and body. I must make a thorough reform."'
Again he says : " Blessed be God who hath
88 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
appointed the Sabbath, and interposes these
seasons of serious recollection. May they be
effectual to their purpose ; may my errors
be corrected, my desires sanctified, and my
whole soul quickened and animated in the
Christian course. 'Write, I beseech thee,
thy law in my heart, that I may not sin
against thee. I often waste my precious
hours for not having a settled plan before-
hand to what studies to betake myself, what
books to read. Let me attend to this for the
time to come, and may my slave business and
my society business be duly attended to."
In the spring, as the meeting of Parlia-
ment approached, though still in delicate
health, he found himself in readiness for the
next campaign.
On the twelfth of May the great question
came before the House. Mr. Wilberforce
opened the debate in a speech of three hours
and a half. In this eloquent appeal he gave
utterance to the feelings that had long dwelt
in his heart. Examining the conflicting
THE SLAVE-TRADE. 89
details of testimony, lie made visible to the
understanding of all, the effect of the trade
upon Africa — upon the colonies — upon the
nation itself. The appeal was overwhelming.
The sufferings of the middle-passage, " where
the aggregate must be multiplied by every
individual tale of woe/' were asserted. The
alleged comforts of the miserable victims
were disproved. As a last infallible witness,
Death itself, by its fearful ravages in the
slave-ship, was summoned by the eloquent
pleader for justice, to give testimony to their
unutterable wrongs.
This was an eventful day. The character
of this address is best known by its effect
upon the " audience of orators" who listened
to it. Mr. Wilberforce was supported in the
noblest manner by Pitt and Fox and Burke.
Said the last of these : " The House, the
nation and Europe are under great and se-
rious obligations to the honorable gentleman
for having brought forward the subject in a
manner the most masterly, impressive and
90 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
eloquent. The principles/' he said, " were so
well laid down, and supported with so much
force and order, that it equaled any thing he
had heard in modern times, and was not
perhaps to be surpassed in the remains of
Grecian eloquence."
Equally strong were the words of Bishop
Porteus. He speaks of this as "one of the
ablest and most eloquent speeches ever heard
in that or any other place. It was," said he,
" a glorious night for this country. I was in
the House from five to eleven."
The opponents of abolition were now on
the alert to throw every obstacle in the way.
But such an introduction of the subject to
the. House of Commons was deemed by its
friends of itself a triumph, and a precursor to
still greater good.
VII.
$i&it is fiittil fUrt,
There is sometimes a strange interest in a
distant charity, merely because, being afar off,
it is dimly discerned, and surrounded, it may
be, by circumstances that give it an aspect
of romance. To convert the heathen on the
other side of the world, to ransom captives
one has never seen, may possess for some
minds a charm that can even cause forgetful-
ness of more immediate duties. To infer,
however, because one does engage in enter-
prises of charity and justice, embracing dis-
tant objects, that therefore they neglect more
obvious and familiar duties, is most unjust.
Because a person accomplishes one good, we
must not infer either that he cannot or does
not perform another, even though that other
92 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
may appear to involve a distinct set of pow-
ers, a changed course of action. Because the
pleader for the victim of the slave-ship, by
his eloquent and energetic addresses, moved
and swayed the hearts of his compeers, and
even of his opponents, we must not suppose
that he forgot the lowlier duties that are
binding upon all.
The acquaintance of Wilberforce with
Hannah More has been already mentioned.
Those who feared God were now his chosen
friends. Of this distinguished lady we may
remark, that by the few who knew her best,
she was far more valued for the fervor of her
piety than for the brilliancy of her genius.
This last was but the goodly frame of the
picture — the costly setting of the diamond.
In August of this year she received at her
own home at Cowslip Green, as welcome
guests, Mr. Wilberforce and his sister. The
Misses More spared no effort to entertain
their visitors, and the sequestered surround-
ings of their cottage-home were industriously
VISIT TO HANNAH MORE. 93
explored. No one could ramble with Wilber-
force among rural scenes without being aware
of his genuine love for the beauties of natural
scenery.
Not more than ten miles from the home of
Miss More rose the cliffs of Cheddar, not un-
renowned for their abrupt and wild and rug-
ged scenery, nor unvisited by curious trav-
elers. The guest of Cowslip Green must by
no means leave the neighborhood till he too
had visited this romantic spot. He fancied
time would hardly permit,, but at last suf-
fered himself to be persuaded. On his return
some disappointment was felt, that he, so
great a lover of the picturesque, had ex-
pressed so little of enthusiasm.
"How do you like the cliffs ?" asked Miss
Patty, who had urged the expedition.
Mr. Wilberforce acknowledged they were
" very fine/' but added, " the poverty and
distress of the people are dreadful." There
was no further conversation. He retired to
the solitude of his own room.
94 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
Miss Patty observed that the cold chicken
placed in the carriage for his dinner returned
untouched, and remarked to Hannah and
Miss Wilberforce that she feared he was ill.
At supper he again appeared. Seated at
table he requested that the servants might
be dismissed. Then addressing his hostess,
he began : " Miss Hannah More, something
must be done for Cheddar." He then un-
folded the observations of the day. There
could be found at Cheddar no resident minis-
ter, no schools, little means of subsistence
even ; wretched and squalid poverty and ig-
norance seemed the leading characteristics of
the people.
The cause of his abstraction was now ex-
plained, and the ladies entered warmly into
his views. It furnished an evening's conver-
sation, and the question, " What shall be
done ?" was finally answered by Wilber-
force, who exclaimed, addressing his hostess :
u If you ivill be at the trouble, I will be at the
expense"
VISIT TO HANNAH MORE. 95
i
This was near the close of August, and on
the first of October Miss More opened her
first school in Cheddar. This was a Sabbath-
School, for the ignorant, the wretched people
of that secluded district.
"It was/' she wrote, "an affecting sight.
Several of the grown-up youth had been tried
at the late assizes — three were the children
of *a person lately condemned to be hanged ;
many were thieves, all ignorant, profane and
vicious beyond belief. I can do them little
good I fear, but the grace of God can/'
To the Sunday-School was soon added a
week-day school, at which the girls were
taught sewing, knitting, spinning. Other
destitute neighborhoods were visited, and be-
fore the year closed, the number of Sabbath
pupils increased to five hundred.
Mr. "Wilberforce was by no means unmind-
ful of the part which he had engaged to fill.
To Miss More he wrote :
" The best proof you can give me that you
believe me hearty in the cause, or sincere in
96 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
the wishes I have expressed, is to call on me
for money without reserve. Every one should
contribute out of his own proper fund. I
have more money than time, and if you
or your sister, (on whom I foresee must be
devolved the superintendence of our infant
establishment,) will condescend to be my
almoner, you will enable me to dispose of
some of the superfluity it has pleased God to
give me, to good purpose. Sure I am, that
they who subscribe attention, industry, &c,
furnish articles of more sterling and intrinsic
value. Besides, I have a rich banker in Lon-
don, Mr. H. Thornton, whom I cannot oblige
so much, as by drawing on him for purposes
like these. I shall take the liberty of inclos-
ing a draft for forty pounds ; but this is only
meant for beginning/'
Eepeatedly do we find him using similar
words and thus fulfilling his contract. Chris-
tian love, a pure expansive principle, will not
fix itself upon a single class of objects.
Where it burns in the heart, it will encircle
UNOSTENTATIOUS BENEVOLENCE. 97
with its own warmth and brightness what-
ever it approaches. It is only when be-
dimmed by human infirmity, that it cleaves
exclusively to one class of subjects, or one
mode of action.
Eeturning to London Mr. Wilberforce was
again deeply absorbed in the slave business.
Facts and details were made familiar to him,
and views interchanged, as once every week
the slave committee dined with him. At the
breakfast-table he usually received those who
came to him on business, or with whose plans
of benevolence he wished to become familiar.
To a society which appears to have had for
its object the education of young men for
purposes of religious usefulness, he is stated
to have subscribed in one year one hundred
pounds under four anonymous entries, to
avoid notice. Upon the objects of this
charity he conferred the still more valuable
favor of inviting them to his house and culti-
vating their acquaintance ; often by his in-
98 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
fluence giving a direction to the course of
their future labors. His station in life, his
intercourse with the great, had not had its
effect to dim his perception of true merit,
even under rough disguises. A keen and
humorous perception of character marked his
intercourse with the various classes of men
by whom he was surrounded. "We have
different forms/' he remarked, " assigned to
us in the school of life — different gifts im-
parted. All is not attractive that is good.
Iron is useful, though it does not sparkle like
the diamond. Gold has not the fragrance
of a flower. So different persons have differ-
ent modes of excellence, and we must have
an eye to them all/'
In June of this year (1790) he records in
his journal a narrow escape from a serious
accident. "How little/' he remarks, "have
I thought of my deliverance the other day,
when the carriage was dashed to pieces !
How many have been killed by such acci-
NARROW ESCAPE. 99
dents, and I unhurt ! let me endeavor to
turn to God/' He adds, a few days later :
"I have befcn thinking of one particular
failing — that of self-indulgence — while I
have aimed too little at general reformation.
It is when we desire . to love God with all
our hearts, and in all things to devote our-
selves to his service, that we find our con-
tinual need of his help, and such incessant
proofs of our own weakness, that we are
kept watchful and sober, and may hope by
degrees to be renewed in the spirit of our
minds. may I be thus changed from
darkness into light. Whatever reason there
may be for my keeping open house in Palace
Yard, certain it is that quiet and solitude are
favorable to reflection and sober-mindedness ;
let me therefore endeavor to secure to myself
frequent seasons of uninterrupted communion
with God."
That same year he spent some time at
Yoxall Lodge, the seat of Eev. T. Gisborne.
With this gentleman a college acquaintance
100 WILLIAM WILBER^ORCE.
had been renewed by sympathy in the aboli-
tion question. Here he became acquainted
with one whom he afterward numbered
among his most valuable friends — Thomas
Babington. With these friends it became
his custom to spend a portion of each
summer. Here he could enjoy, when he
desired It, uninterrupted privacy Here he
put in practice resolutions which the con-
stant influx of visitors at his own residence
in Westmoreland had rendered impossible,
devoting ten or twelve hours every day to
study. u I could bear testimony/' writes
Mr. Grisborne, "were such attestation need-
ful, to his laborious, unabated diligence, day
after day, in pursuing his investigations on
the slave business, and in composing his
invaluable work on Practical Christianity.
He sallied forth always for a walk a short
time before dinner, among the holly groves
of the then uninclosed Needwood forest. Here
u his grateful voice
Sang its own joy, and made the woods rejoice."
THE SLAVE-TRADE. 101
" Often/' said his host, " have I heard its
melodious tones among the trees, at such
times, from the distance of full half a mile/'
" Never/' says Wilberforce himself of these
days, "was I in better spirits than when I
thus passed my time in quiet study."
Another friend writes from the same place :
"Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Babington have
never appeared down stairs since we came,
except to take a hasty dinner, and for half an
hour after we have supped ; the slave-trade
now occupies them nine hours daily. Mr.
Babington told me last night that he had
fourteen hundred folio pages to read, to
detect the contradictions, and to collect the
answers which corroborated the assertions
made by Mr. Wilberforce in his speeches.
These, with more than two thousand papers
to be abridged, must all be done within a
fortnight. They talk of sitting up one night
in each week to accomplish it. The two
friends are beginning to look very ill, but
they are in excellent spirits, and at this
9*
102 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
moment I hear them laughing at some
absurd questions in the examination. You
would think Mr. Wilberforce much changed
since we were at Rayrigg. He talks a great
deal more on serious subjects than he used to
do."
Far enough was his from being " the easy-
service of popular declamation on premises
supplied by others." They who saw only the
results of his labors spread before them,
adorned with the graces of eloquence, little
dreamed of the days and nights of toil that
had preceded.
The work on Practical Christianity has
been alluded to above. Among the other
employments of his retired hours, he had
formed a plan of writing a religious work.
It was often laid aside for other duties, and
as often resumed.
To a friend he writes from Toxall Lodge :
"I have not advanced a single step since
we parted at Buxton, in composing the
DEATH OF THORNTON. 108
little tract of which I then spoke to yon.
This is not, however, owing to indolence,
procrastination, or any alteration in my
opinion of the utility of the work ; but after
mature consideration I thought it right to
make the slave business my first object.
Ever since I have been at all stationary, I
have been laboring at it with great assi-
duity/'
In November he returned to London. On
the ninth of that month he records in his
journal the death of his early and excellent
friend, John Thornton. "He was allied to
me," he adds, "by relationship and family
connection. It was by living with great
simplicity of intention and conduct in the
Christian life, more than by any superiority
of understanding or of knowledge, that he
rendered his name illustrious. He devoted
large sums annually to charitable purposes,
especially to the promotion of religion in his
own and other countries. He assisted many
104 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
clergymen, enabling them to live in comfort
and to practice a useful hospitality. He died
without a groan or a struggle, in full view of
eternity. may my last end be like his \"
VIII.
iiflffmi m^mptU 0f % pfMtfmt fill
The day was approaching when the claims
of the African were to he again presented to
the Parliament. Notwithstanding the unre-
mitting labors which we have recorded, the
prospect was by no means bright. "When
Wilberforce first appeared as the advocate
for the slave, many of the friends who sym-
pathized with him supposed that the work
would be speedily accomplished. He himself
may very possibly have indulged at the outset
the thought that the nation needed only to
be informed of the enormities of the slave-
trade in order to hasten it to an inevitable
issue. Soon, however, it became evident to
the observing eyes of the prime movers in this
matter that it was beset with difficulties.
106 WILLIAM WILBERFOROE.
The first generous outbreak of indignation
bad died away, and those who felt that " by
this craft we have our wealth" had rallied
their strength. The Guinea traders and
West India planters rose up to defend the
institution that filled their coffers with gain.
Commercial men, to an extent altogether un-
dreamed of, allied themselves with these, and
presented a formidable array of opposition
to the advocatess of the oppressed. Many,
too, of the early friends of the cause had lost
the ardor of their first love, while the oppo-
nents were wakeful as self-interest could
make them.
" The affair goes on but slowly in parlia-
ment/' writes one, " and with a more perti-
nacious and assiduous attendance of our ad-
versaries than of our friends, except indeed
Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. William Smith, Sir. W.
Dolben, and a few others, so that we can not
yet guess the result."
Moreover, the documentary evidences were
ponderous and tedious. Necessary as were
WESLEY'S LETTER. 107
these protracted sittings to final success, they
gave time to the defenders of the trade to
multiply and to encourage one another. Yet
was Mr. Wilberforce not without assurances
of sympathy. John Wesley, now upon his
death-bed, ready to depart and be with his
Lord, with trembling hand penned a few lines
to the advocate of abolition.
"February 24th, 1*791.
" My Dear Sir :
" Unless the Divine power has raised
you up to be as Athanasius, contra mundum,
I see not how you can go through your glori-
ous enterprise in opposing that execrable vil-
lainy, which is the scandal of religion,, of Eng-
land, and of human nature. Unless God has
raised you up for this very purpose, you will
be worn out by the opposition of men and
devils ; but if God be for you, who can be
against you. Are all of them together
stronger than God ? be not weary in well-
doing ! Go on in the name of God, till even
108 WILLIAM WILBEKFOECE.
American slavery, the vilest tliat ever saw the
sun, shall vanish away before it. That He
who has guided you from your youth up, may
continue to strengthen you in this and all
things, is the prayer of, dear sir,
" Your affectionate servant,
" John Wesley."
This was as a voice from the confines of
the heavenly glory, and well calculated to
cheer and strengthen the heart of the la-
borer at the dark period in which it was writ-
ten. Yet had he still a higher refuge, a
richer resource. He approached the conflict
in a strength not his own. " May God/' he
writes in his journal, a few days before the
opening of the contest, u enable me to live
more to his glory, and bless me in this great
work I have now in hand. May I look to
him for wisdom and strength and the power
of persuasion, and may I surrender myself
to him, as to the event, with perfect submis-
sion, and ascribe to him all the praise if I
THE DEBATE. 109
succeed, and if I fail say from the heart Thy
will be done."
In April the debate came on. Both Mr.
Fox and Mr. Pitt gave their support to the
abolition bill. The latter in an eloquent
speech was said to have equalled the most
brilliant of his own great efforts. The debate
was called "the war of the pigmies against
the giants of the House." The opposition
however gained ground, and " the character,
talents, and humanity of the House were left
in a minority of eighty-eight to one hundred
and sixty-three."
One effort of the friends of Africa, at this
time, met with better success. The Sierre
Leone Company received the sanction of the
legislature. Its object was the formation of
a colony on the coast of Africa. Such per-
sons as might settle there, were to have no
connection with the slave-trade, except by
every possible means to oppose themselves to
it. The first colonists were principally free
10
110 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
colored persons who emigrated from Nova
'Scotia, to the number of eleven hundred.
They had been allowed, in that province,
bounties of land for services rendered to the
British arms in the war of the Eevolution.
This fleet, consisting of fifteen vessels, was
commanded by a brother of the celebrated
Clarkson, whose health shortly after this be-
came seriously undermined by reason of his
unremitting labors in the cause of freedom.
Lieutenant Clarkson was the first governor
of the colony, and afterwards Mr. Macau ley.
After this we find Wilberforce at a coun-
try residence near Bath. He writes : " To
have grass grow up to my door after so long a
parching of my heels on the pavement of
London, is not a luxury, but necessary for
me." During the autumn he pursued a dili-
gent course of study, making it a point of
conscience to allow no time to run to waste.
Nest to his duties to God, to humanity, to
tn-rj business arising out of his public office,
L regarded the cultivation of every talent
MENTAL IMPKOVEMENT. Ill
bestowed upon liim as a binding duty. His
inner life of progress and improvement in-
cluded not alone the religious affections ; the
intellect was also to be dedicated to God, and
to be kept brightened and ready for the Mas-
ter's use. Here we have a specimen of the
manner in which seasons of relaxation were
spent. " Busy in reading English History
with Babington." In their daily walks the
two friends continued their study, one of
them reading aloud while his steps were
guided by the other. " Delightful weather/'
he says at this time — " reading Rapin out of
doors." His occupations may be gathered
from his list of subjects. " Bible, English
History, Fenelon's Characters, Horace, by
heart, Cicero de Oratore, Addison's Cato,
Hume, Hudibras, Pilgrim's Progress, Dod-
dridge's Sermons, Jonathan Edwards, Owen,
Letters" Of the extent of his correspond-
ence he complains as consuming much time,
yet he felt it to be an important means of
usefulness.
112 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
The next year (1792) the slave subject
was again renewed in Parliament. Wilber-
force wrote thus to his friend Mr. Hey :
" I know how much you are interested in
what regards our poor African fellow-crea-
tures, and therefore I take up my pen for a
single moment to inform you that after a
long debate (we did not separate till near
seven this morning) my motion for imme-
diate abolition was put by, though supported
strenuously by Mr. Fox, and by Mr. Pitt, with
more energy and ability than were almost
ever exerted in the House of Commons.
Windham, who has no love for Pitt, tells
me that Fox and Grey, with whom he
walked home after the debate, agreed with,
him in thinking Pitt's speech one of the most
extraordinary displays of eloquence they had
ever heard. For the last twenty minutes he
really seemed to be inspired He was dilating
on the future prospects of civilizing Africa, a
topic which I had suggested to him in the
morning. We carried a motion, however,
GRADUAL ABOLITION. 113
afterward, for gradual abolition, against the
united forces of Africans and West Indians,
by a majority of two hundred and thirty-
eight to eighty-five. I am congratulated on
all hands, yet I can not but feel hurt and
humiliated. We must endeavor to force the
gradual abolitionists in their bill (for I will
never myself bring forward a parliamentary
license to rob and murder) to allow as short a
term as possible, and under as many limita-
tions/'
Even this motion for gradual abolition
proved in the end unsuccessful. Altered and
amended and discussed, it was finally post-
poned till the next session. Heart-wearying
indeed to the real friends of the cause were
the efforts for the gradual abolition of the
trade. Watchful of the various shades of
feeling, they could not be slow to perceive
when a time was named for the gradual
abolition to take effect, that there were not a
few who were desirous of prolonging the days
10*
114 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
of the expiring monster. Darkness seemed
to be settling down upon trie hopes of
humanity.
So obnoxious had the leaders of this .cause
become that their correspondence with one
another could not be trusted openly to the
post-offices. To exchange letters with Mr.
Wilberforce led to much inconvenience.
" The box in which our petition is inclosed,"
says a Glasgow correspondent, "has been
directed to another, that its contents may be
unsuspected." " If you write," asked the
late Dr. Currie of Liverpool, "please to
direct without franking it." From that city,
the chief seat of the African trade, others
made the same request. " Correspondence
was conducted by unsigned letters, sent in
the covers of unsuspected persons."
But these were among the lesser evils. To
such a pitch had opposition arisen at one
time that fears were entertained that Mr.
Wilberforce would fall a victim to the vio-
lence of his enemies. Among other move-
VIOLENCE THREATENED. 115
ments of this nature we find mention of one
Kimber, a West Indian captain. He is
described by Sir James Stonehouse as " a
bad man, a great spendthrift, one who would
swear to any falsehood, and who is linked
with a set of rascals like himself/' This man
had been charged by Mr. Wilberforce in the
debate of 1792 with great cruelty in the
management of the trade. He had been
publicly indicted for the murder of a negro
girl, and only escaped from the law through
the connivance of a person in power. By
this desperate man Mr. Wilberforce was fol-
lowed by threatened violence for two years.
To his friend Lord Muncaster he wrote :
" I know how little the proverb ' out of
sight out of mind' holds good in the case of
any of your friendships, and therefore I was
not surprised at the warmth with which you
expressed yourself on the subject of Kimber.
Who told you any thing of the matter ?
Was it from me ? I am sure I intended not
to mention it, lest I should awaken your kind
116 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
solicitude, which, at the distance of three
hundred miles from its object, is not the
most comfortable companion. Perhaps in
some unguarded moment the matter slipped
from my pen. I do n't know yet whether he
has any further measures in store ; mean time
be assured I will do all for my own security
which you would think proper were you my
adviser. I can't say I apprehend much ; and
I really believe that if he were to commit
any act of violence it would be beneficial
rather than injurious to the cause"
This annoyance was terminated at last by
the interference of Lord Sheffield, an honora-
ble opponent.
Notwithstanding all the labors of Wilber-
force, and the repeated proofs which he had
given of his devotion to the cause of African
freedom, there were not wanting those who
represented him as weary of the work. In
these dark days of the warfare of justice with
cruelty, of high-toned principle with avarice
and selfishness, it was indeed a favorite resort
UNJUST ACCUSATION. 117
with, some to take advantage of inevitable
delays and discomfitures to blame the want
of zeal on tlie part of the leader. He, was
said, in reference to the very cause which
dwelt in his heart's deepest infoldings, the
love of which had grown with his growth as a
public man, and increased with the strength
of years, to have given up ! His indignant
surprise at this accusation can not be sup-
pressed. In a letter to Dr. Currie, after
clearing himself from the imputation, he
adds : " In truth, the principles on which I
act in this business, being those of religion,
not of sensibility or personal feeling, can
know no remission, and yield to no delay."
In these words we have the key to that
" persistency mingled with gentleness" which
have made him a model for reformers.
One who wrought from such motives must
necessarily be hopeful, and he adds : " I am
confident of success, though I dare not say
any thing positive as to the period of it."
Again he says of the accusation : " It is
118 WILLIAM WILBERFOitCE.
one of tliose calumnies to wlilcli every public
man is exposed, and of which, though I have
had a tolerable proportion, I can not com-
plain of having had more than my share. In
every case of political expediency, there
appears to me room for the consideration of
times and seasons. At one time it may be
proper to push, at another, in other circum-
stances, to withhold our efforts ; but in the
present instance, where the actual commis-
sion of guilt is in question, a man who fears
God is not at liberty."
At a subsequent day, amid darkened pros-
pects, in reply to- one who insisted that the
whole business be postponed, he exclaims
with indignation against " the dry, calm way
in which gentlemen are accustomed to speak
of the' sufferings of others. The question
suspended ! Is the desolation of wretched
Africa suspended ? Are all the complicated
miseries of this wretched trade suspended ?
Is the work of death suspended ? No, sir, I
BARKENED PROSPECTS. 119
will not delay this motion, and I call upon
the House not to insult the forbearance of
Heaven by delaying this tardy act of jus-
tice I"
IX.
tUgiflss f<r»jjrm.
In 1792 Mr, Wilberforce shared a house at
Olapham with. Henry Thornton, the young-
est son of his deceased relative. Gradu-
ally, in this neighborhood, there grew up
around him a chosen circle of endeared asso-
ciates. He was now entering the period of
middle life, and while he stood high in pub-
lic estimation, there were perhaps few men
living who were richer in personal friends.
The fascination of his social powers in part
accounts for this, but more especially his own
frank and affectionate spirit. Love, it is
said, begets love, and an illustration of this
may be found in the group of friends in
whom he was accustomed to confide. In the
successes even of his political life, there was
RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. 121
always a heartiness of congratulation, a pe-
culiar warmth and grace of sympathy. This
at each period of his history can hardly fail
to be observed.
But to one who studies the memorials of
his life a more striking feature is found in
the increase of the religious spirit. If even
in its beginnings, in the first freshness of the
heavenly gift, it was marked by earnestness
and vitality, it existed now in increased
strength. There is in its maturer manifesta-
tions an element of calmness, of trust, of lay-
ing hold on God, w T hich marks an advance.
From time to time as we proceed, it is plain
that this divine principle increased in depth
and serenity, taking at length entire possess-
ion, " leavening the whole man/'' Not in
vain had he striven, amid the bustle of busi-
ness, the turmoil of public life, still to find
time for prayer, for the study of God's word,
for religious meditation. Not in vain had
been his endeavor,- amid the temptations in-
cident to his allotted sphere, "to set the
11
122 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE
4
Lord always before him " — " to take hold of
his strength."
"Few men" writes Henry Thornton, with
reference to this period, "have been blessed
with worthier or better friends than have
fallen to jny lot. Mr. Wilberforce stands at
the head of these, for he was the friend of
my youth. I owed much to him in every
sense at my first coming out in life ; for his
enlarged mind, his affectionate and con-
descending manners, and his very superior
piety, were exactly calculated to supply what
was wanting to my improvement, and my es-
tablishment in a right course." — " When I
entered life, I saw a great deal of dishonor-
able conduct among people who made great
profession of religion. In my father's house
I met persons of this sort. This so disgusted
me, that had it not been for the admirable
pattern of consistency and disinterestedness
which I saw in Mr. Wilberforce, I should
have been in danger of a sprt of infidelity/'
EELIGIOUS PROGRESS. 123
The social habits of Mr. W. and his views
of duty connected therewith, have already
appeared, ■'these were now however care-
fully and conscientiously reviewed. He still
felt that his was a public walk, yet would
withdraw from others when he could without
rudeness.
"Taken in/' he writes, "to dine with a
vast company at W. Smith's. Dr. Aiken,
Gillies, Mr. and Mrs. Barbauld, Helen Maria
Williams, Mackintosh, Mr. Belsham, Mr.
Sabbatiere, Mr. and Mrs. Towgood. I was
not sufficiently guarded in talking about re-
ligion after dinner. Mackintosh talked away.
He spoke most highly of Pitt's slave-trade
speech. Came home as if hunted to Thorn-
ton's family party, and much struck with the
difference. I threw out some things which
may perhaps be of use/'
25th. " Had a long conversation with
Pearson, on the proper measure of a Chris-
tian's liying in society, whether religious or
worldly. He was very strong for solitude,
124 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
and speaks of the benefit he personally has
received from it. I talked with him very
openly, and was much struck with what he
said/' — "He strongly pressed solitude, from
reason, Scripture, and his own personal ex-
perience. I believe he is right, and mean to
seek more quiet and solitude than I have
done/' — " Eead Howe c on Delighting in
God/ and much affected by it."
On another occasion he says: "Let me
deal honestly with myself in this matter, and
if, on further trial, I find reason to believe
that I ought to lead a more sequestered life,
may I not dread the imputation of singu-
larity. If from my extreme weakness this
public company-keeping life cannot be made
consistent with a heavenly frame of mind, I
think I ought to retire more. Herein and in
all things may God direct me, but let me
strive more against my corruptions, and par-
ticularly not straiten prayer." — "Let me
universally distrust myself, but let me throw
myself at the feet of Christ, as an. undone
RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. 125
creature, distrusting, yea, despairing of my-
self, but firmly relying upon Him. c Him
that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast
out/ c They that wait on the Lord shall re-
new their strength/ "
In the early days of his religious life he
had lived so much in society that he had,
without doubt, increased the conflicts of the
way. Yet had he learned to make this
subservient to higher ends. Not seeking
singularity, conforming in indifferent things
to the customs of those around him, winning
the hearts of others by his own kindly spirit,
he could yet show himself, when occasion
called, the reprover of sin. His companions
came in time to understand this. They
learned that he was in earnest. They knew
that serious topics could not be spoken of
with lightness- — that if the remonstrance did
not at once rise to his lips it was very likely
withheld for the leisure that would commit
the reproof to writing, thus rendering the
11*
126 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
impression more lasting. To those who spoke
lightly or profanely, this latter was his cus-
tom. By this, he has said, he never lost a
friend, and but once endangered the contin-
uance of good will. "I wrote to the late
Sir , and mentioned to him this bad
habit. He sent me in reply an angry letter,
returning a book that I had given him, and
asking for one he had given me. Instead of
it I sent him a second letter of friendly
expostulation, which so won him over that he
wrote to me in the kindest tone, and begged
me to send him back again the book he had
so hastily returned/'
In the midst of the engagements of public
life he remembers the resolutions formed in
solitude. u I will watch and pray/' he says,
" or God may punish my carelessness by
suffering me to fall into sin."
The abolition question at this time was be-
coming beset with difficulties. The appeal was
made now to the people at large, to the moral
sympathies of the educated and religious
DISAGREEMENT WITH FOX. 127
classes. "I wish you and all other country
laborers/' wrote Mr. Wilberforce to Mr. Hey,
" to consider yourselves not as having con-
cluded, but as only beginning your work ;"
adding these memorable and suggestive words :
"It is on the general impression and feeling
of the nation we must rely, and not on the
political conscience of the House of Commons."
The war with France at this time, to
which Mr. Wilberforce had been opposed,
occasioned a temporary estrangement be-
tween the prime-minister and himself. The
intimacy in which he had lived with Mr. Pitt,
his strong affection for that great man, ren-
dered a disagreement exquisitely painful.
But from the warlike tone of the adminis-
tration he strongly dissented, to the no small
annoyance of the minister. This feeling was
shared by Wilberforce, who wrote many years
afterward, with reference to this : "No one
who has not seen a good deal of public life,
and felt how difficult and painful it is to differ
128 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
from those with, whom you wish to agree, can
judge at what an expense of feeling such
duties are performed/' A period of personal
estrangement followed this opposition. This,
however, could not last. He writes in his
journal : " Met Pitt for the first time since
our political difference — I think both mean-
ing to be kind to each other— both a little
embarrassed."
The war proved not so short as the min-
ister had hoped ; and on this subject, two
years after, his friend mentions: U A letter
from Pitt, wishing me to come up, hoping
we should agree/' He found at this time
that the premier had adopted his own views,
and earnestly desired that the country should
be at peace.
At this time, however (1793), another
important subject claimed his attention.
This was no other than the introduction
of Christianity into the British dominions in
the East.
EFFORTS FOR INDIA. 129
k
During the latter part of the last century a
large measure of the attention of Parliament
was absorbed Jin East Indian affairs. Though
the British rule did not then as now include
the vast empires of Southern Asia, yet mil-
lions of pagans were subjects of her king, and
could be looked upon in no other light by
the political rulers of the day and the
thoughtful minds of the nation. Already
had the duty of imparting the blessings
of the Gospel to those regions begun to move
the hearts of Christians. Ever awake to the
interests of Christianity and the good of his
fellow-men, Mr. Wilberforce seized a suitable
opportunity to call the attention of Parlia-
ment to this great subject. Having given
much attention to the matter, and consulted
with others, on the fourteenth of May, 1793,
he brought before the House certain resolu-
tions having for their object the "religious
improvement" of the natives of India. It
was proposed that the government take this
matter into its own hands, and extend the
130 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
benefits of the religious establishment to
these its benighted subjects. This was pre-
sented with much power of argument and
eloquence. "It is not meant/' said Mr.
Wilberforce, "to break up by violence exist-
ing institutions, and force our faith upon the
natives of India, but gravely, silently and
systematically to prepare the way for the
diffusion of religious truth. Fraud and vio-
lence are directly repugnant to the genius
and spirit of our holy faith, and would frus-
trate all attempts for its diffusion/'
Notwithstanding his efforts, it failed. He
writes to Mr. Gisborne : " The East India
directors and proprietors have triumphed.
All my clauses were last night struck out on
the third reading of the bill, and our territo-
ries in Hindostan, twenty millions of people
included, are left in the undisturbed and
peaceable possession, and committed to the
providential protection of — Brahma/'
Seldom had Wilberforce been so deeply
disappointed. Yet in God he found refuge.
EFFORTS FOR INDIA. 131
In his private journal he writes, with refer-
ence to this most trvins; termination of his
efforts in this matter : u Yet where can I go
but to thee, blessed Jesus ? Thou hast the
words of eternal life. I am no more worthy
to be called thy son ; yet receive me, and
deliver me from all my hinderances, and by
the power of thy renewing grace render me
meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of
the saints in light."
Surely, we may exclaim, on reading this
little passage, so replete with filial trust, hu-
mility, and love, the defects of the servants
of Grod are better than the triumphs of the
world.
But India, though uncared for by her con-
querors, was remembered by God. Christian
hearts were inspired to seek her good.
Prayer without ceasing was made for those
who dwelt in the shadow of death. "We
have done too little for the souls of men and
for the honor of our great Master," was the
language of the pious. At a meeting of the
132 WILLIAM WILBEEFORCE.
associated Baptist churches at Nottingham,
not far from this very .time, had William
Carey addressed his brethren in the ministry
on this topic. In the beautifully prophetic
words of Isaiah, he called upon the assem-
bled people of God : " Enlarge the place of
thy tent, and stretch forth the curtains of
thy habitations ; spare not, lengthen thy
cords and strengthen thy stakes, for thou
shalt break forth on the right hand . and on
the left ; and thy seed shall inherit the earth,
and make the desolate cities to be inhab-
ited/' The inspiring idea of a mission to the
heathen was unfolded. In the hearts of
those who listened a responsive chord was
touched, which has since vibrated through
the world. On the thirteenth of June, 1793,
less than one month after the parliamentary
rejection, Carey and his associate sailed for
the East. From that day to the present,
India has never been without its missionaries.
Nor was this all. The subject had been
agitated, and the London Missionary Society
EFFORTS FOR INDIA. 133
came into existence. This also,, after a few
years, was followed by the " Church Mission-
ary Society for Africa and the East." Thus
the angel having the everlasting gospel pur-
sued his onward flight, though statesmen and
legislators planned for the present state of
existence only. Thus evermore is fulfilling
the Saviour's prayer concerning his people,
" that they all may be one/' though in the
present state of twilight ignorance they mis-
take outward separations for real differences.
What Wilberforce failed to accomplish in
the House of Commons, Carey and Fuller
were permitted to commence at Nottingham,
God in the mysteries of his wisdom, often-
times choosing the simplest means to produce
the sublimest results.
12
The name of La Fayette is to every
American a familiar sound. The favored
friend of Washington, the ardent lover of
liberty, the helper in the war that made us a
nation. It is one of those charmed words on
which we delight to dwell. Never to be for-
gotten by those who witnessed them, are the
scenes of his visit in after life, in the midst
of a green old age, to the people he had loved
in youth. It was indeed a good and a
comely thing for the United States, in the
progress of their vigorous youth, having won
an honorable standing among the nations of
the earth, to extend warm from the heart an
invitation to. this friend of her early and ad-
verse days, to visit her shores yet once more,
LA FAYETTE. 135
the guest of the people. He came, and a na-
tion rose to greet him. And still, in thou-
sands of hearts, there yet lives the image of
that goodly form ; and gracious countenance,
and soul-kindling glance, embalmed with as-
sociations that even then linked him with the
mighty dead, and made his name a part of
our country's history.
But at the time of which we are writing.
La Fayette was in prison. Known through
Europe as a lover of constitutional freedom,
his just and noble spirit spurned at the ex-
cesses of the French Revolution. In those
times of phrenzy and bloodshed, a true advo-
cate for the rights of man had no place on
which to stand. When it became evident to
La Fayette that the party in power actually
purposed to put the king and queen to
death, he threw the whole weight of his in-
fluence into an attempt to stem the tide of
popular fury. Quitting the army, he ap-
peared before the Convention. But his ef-
forts were in vain. So far were that body
136 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
from listening to him, that they sent messen-
gers to his own soldiers to prevail on them
to arrest their commander. Forced to flee,
he barely escaped with his life. On the bor-
ders of Prussia he was seized and confined in
the dungeons of the fortress of Olmutz. This
dreary confinement was only relieved by the
presence of Madame de la Fayette, who pe-
titioned that she might be allowed to join
her husband. The sternness of Austrian
rule only allowed this on condition of her
becoming herself a captive. The noble
daughter of one of the most ancient families
of France chose this castle prison for her
abode. This captivity had now lasted four
years. The illustrious character of the
prisoner, his high rank, and the spotlessness
of his fame, caused his detention to become
of sufficient moment to justify national inters
ference.
Austria, being at that time in friendly al-
liance with England, it was supposed that
a request from the Court of St. James, would
LA FAYETTE. 137
be heard and responded to by their confeder-
ates. A romantic interest seems to have at-
tached itself I to the whole life of the Ameri-
can champion, and many throughout the
British realm were anxious for his liberation.
"While your friend (Mr. Pitt) remains in
power/' wrote Granville Sharpe to Mr. Wil-
berforce in 1798, "I have one favor to so-
licit. I ask it for the sake of his own credit,
as well as for the credit of his partners in the
administration, that they may no longer lie
under the suspicion of being accessory to the
oppression of a worthy man, whose intentions
were always disinterested and patriotic ; I
mean the Marquis de la Fayette, who, with
his amiable family, (I believe,) are still most
cruelly and unjustifiably detained in an Aus-
trian Bastile ! My application to you in
favor of this unhappy gentleman has, I trust,
some grounds of propriety.
"He was a leading member of the late
society in France for the abolition of the
slave trade ; and I received likewise several
12*
138 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
very sensible and humane letters from him-
self/ as an individual, on that subject, to
which, I believe, he was very sincerely at-
tached ; and on that ground alone I earnestly
beg the immediate exertion of your best
interest with your friend, while he continues
in power, that an application may be made
for the release of the unfortunate Marquis
and his oppressed family."
That this letter was the expression of a
feeling somewhat widely extended we can not
doubt. It could not be but the mind of
Wilberforce would be awake to the merits of
a case like this, and a spirit uniformly gener-
ous as his, would be ready, when called upon,
to espouse the cause, and seek the release of
the illustrious captive. In the early days of
his political career he had formed in Paris
an acquaintance with La Fayette, and in
later years his labors had been cheered by the
exertions of this patriotic Frenchman, to free
his own country from the disgrace of the
slave trade.
LA FAYETTE. 139
Still the subject was not without its diffi-
culties. By many the name of La Fayette
was cast out as evil. His strong sympathies
with liberty were, according to the prevalent
views of that day, naturally confounded with
license — with misrule — with murder. Even
the sagacious mind of Edmund Burke made
no scruple of charging on the captive of
Olmutz u the abundant harvest of crimes and
miseries" of which he was said to have " sown
the seeds."
A motion was brought forward on this
subject by General Fitzpatrick for an address
to the Crown. This was, however, bitterly
opposed, and as little could be said in oppo-
sition to the motion, a tone of ridicule was
adopted. Quick to perceive the moods of
men with whom he had to deal, Mr. Wilber-
force anticipated the peculiar storm that was
rising around him. But he was not to be
deterred. His own mind responded to the
call of humanity, and on that broad ground
he presented it to the House. " Never," he
140 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
writes with regard to the affair, " did I rise
to speak with more reluctance. I expected
all the ridicule that followed ; and when
Dundas by a happy peculiarity of expression
talked of my amendment as designed to
catch the 'straggling humanity' of the
House, there was a perfect roar of laughter.
However I felt sure that we were bound to
use our influence with our allies to mitigate
as far as possible the miseries of war/'
Again he says on this subject : " It was
late in the day before I had an opportunity
of delivering my sentiments, and when at
last an opening did present itself it was
toward the close of a debate, when the
patience of the House was exhausted. It
may perhaps be a confession, but I must
frankly acknowledge that the performance of
an act of duty has seldom been set about at
a greater cost of present feeling than by
myself, when under the circumstances I rose,
conscious that I should immediately draw on
me the loud derision of a very full majority
LA FAYETTE. 141
of the House of Commons. I am thankful
that I was not weak enough to be deterred
by foreseeing the consequences that were to
ensue ; but trifling as the occasion really was,
in the circumstances of the case, it was, at
the moment, a severe trial of principle."
This sensitive dread of ridicule and deter-
mined disregard of it when in the way of
duty form an instructive picture. Nor was
the latter wholly without reward. Long
afterward he received from La Fayette a
special assurance of his gratitude. " Tell
him/' was the message, "that in my life I
can never forget the feeling with which I
read that speech in the dreary dungeon of
Olmutz."
During this winter (1797) the abolition
question, again brought forward, was again
iefeated. The bill for the gradual abolition
jhould have before this taken effect, but was
>bstructed by the efforts of those who, what-
ever their professions, were at heart desirous
»f prolonging the days of the slave-trade.
142 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
From tlie diary of Mr. Wilberforce during
this busy season we extract the resolves by
which he was guided : " To redeem time
more ; to keep God more in view, and Christ
and all he has suffered for us, and the unseen
world, where Christ is now sitting at the
right hand of God, interceding for his people.
I would grow in love and tender solicitude
for my fellow-creatures' happiness ; in pre-
paredness for any events which may befall
me in this uncertain state. I may be called
to sharp trials, but Christ is able to strength-
en me for the event, be it what it may."
Not long after this was penned, there
appeared in a Cambridge newspaper a series
of charges directed against him of an ab-
surdly malignant character. " There seems/'
wrote Dr. Milner, "to be something system-
atic meant against you. It amounts to
downright hatred and persecution."
" My being moved by this falsehood/' he
wrote in his journal, a is proof that I am too
much interested about worldly favor. Yet I
THE PRACTICAL VIEW. 143
endeavor, I hope, to fight against the bad
tempers of revenge and pride which it is
generating by thinking of all our Saviour
suffered in the way of calumny. Let me
humbly watch myself, so far as this false
charge may suggest matter for amendment ;
and also I ought to be very thankful that,
with many faults of which I am conscious, it
has pleased God that I have never been
charged justly, or where I could not vindicate
myself. Thou, Lord, knowest my integrity,
and it will finally appear ; meanwhile let my
usefulness not be prevented by this report, or
that of my book thwarted."
"the practical view."*
The "book" which had been at intervals
for four years in a state of preparation was
now completed. He speaks of it as a
"tract," but it had swelled into a volume.
Indeed this work, now a standard one among
* An Elegant Edition of this Work, on large type, has re*
cently been issued by the Publishers of this Volume.
144 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
religious writings, seems, in its "beginning at
least, to have been undertaken with a view to
the good of those to whom he was personally
known. These, from his public position and
accessible habits, his frank and genial tem-
per, were a numerous throng. To these he
wished to make known fully the inner princi-
ples that molded his conduct. He would
fain reveal to others the hidden strength that
guided his way. He called it his " mani-
festo," and said that now that he had clearly
made known his views of the all-importance,
the absolute necessity of religion, he felt that
he had committed himself more decidedly
even than before to the service of Christ.
He also had fully expressed his hopes for the
safety of the country in troublous times.
Before the book came out, his friends were
anxious for the result. Dr. Milner endeav-
ored to dissuade him from the enterprise.
"A person who stands so high for talent/'
wrote David Scott, " must risk much in point
of fame, at least, by publishing upon a subject
THE PRACTICAL VIEW. 145
on which there have been the greatest exer-
tions of the greatest genius."
Nor was the publisher without apprehen-
sions of the safety of proceeding in the busi-
ness. " You intend to put your name to this
work ?" he inquired of the author. " Then I
think we may venture on five hundred
copies." Within a few days these were all
sold ; and within half a year five editions had
been called for.
The friends of Wilberforce were delighted
at his success, and letters of congratulation
flowed in upon him. " I heartily thank
you/' wrote Lord Muncaster, "for your book.
As a friend I thank you for it ; as a man
I doubly thank you ; but as a member of
the Christian world I render you all grat-
itude and acknowledgment. I thought I
knew you well, but I know you better now."
" I am truly thankful to Grod," wrote Bishop
Porteus, alluding to the troublous aspect of
the times, "that a work of this nature has
made its appearance at this tremendous
13
146 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
moment. I shall offer up my fervent prayers
to God that it may liave a powerful and
extensive influence on the hearts of men,
and in the first place upon my own, which
is already humbled, and will, I trust, in time
be sufficiently awakened by it." "I can
converse with you now as often as I please,"
wrote John Newton, " by your ]ate publica-
tion, which I have now read through, with
increasing satisfaction, a third time. I mean
not to praise you, but I must and will praise
the Lord for your book, which I can not
doubt will be accompanied by a Divine bless-
ing, and productive of happy effects. I hope
it will be useful to me, and of course to those
who attend my ministry."
Amid these expressions of delighted friend-
ship, grateful indeed to so affectionate a
heart, we find the author diligently looking
to his own way. " How careful ought I to
be," he writes, "that I may not disgust men
by an inconsistency between the picture of a
Christian which I draw, and which I exhibit !
THE PRACTICAL VIEW. 147
How else can I expect .the blessing of God
upon my book ? May his grace quicken me !"
The demand for the " Practical View" was
indeed., almost, at that day, without a par-
allel. It was not merely among personal and
religious friends that it was appreciated.
Numbers in the gay world paused in the pur-
suits of pleasure to read those pages from the
pen of one, known to have been once as
thoughtless as themselves. Political men
were curious to know what so distinguished a
servant of the public would say on topics
usually left to the ministers of religion.
Many read the book coming from such a
source, that would never have opened it
otherwise. Its circulation became world-
wide. In America edition after edition fol-
lowed so quickly, as to exceed in number
the repeated reprints of London. " In
India," wrote Henry Martyn, in 1807, " Wil-
berforce is eagerly read." Translated into
the principal languages of Europe, its influ-
ence was thus still farther extended.
148 WILLIAM WILBEKFOKCE.
But the most precious triumphs of the
work consisted neither in the approbation of
valued friends, nor in the extent of the
author's fame. Instances were not wanting;
in which persons ascribed to the perusal of
this work their first perception of the reality
of heart religion.
The Key. Legh Richmond writes : "To
Mr. Wilberforce's • View of Practical Chris-
tianity' I owe, through God's mercy, the first
sacred impression which I ever received, as to
the spiritual nature of the Gospel system, the
vital character of personal religion, the cor-
ruption of the human heart, and the way of
salvation by Jesus Christ. As a young man
recently ordained, I had commenced my la-
bors too much in the spirit of the world."
This book u convinced me of my error, led
me to the study of the scriptures with an
earnestness to which I had hitherto been a
stranger ; humbled my heart, and brought
me to seek the love and blessing of that
Saviour, who alone can afford a peace which
THE PRACTICAL VIEW. 149
the world can not give. I know too well
what has passed in my heart, for now a long
period of time, not to feel and confess, that
to this incident I was indebted originally for
those solid views of Christianity on which I
rest my hope for time and eternity/'
Two years after the publication, Wilber-
force wrote in his journal : " Heard to-day of
a clergyman in the Isle of Wight to whom
my book was blessed. Oh, praise ! praise !
Subsequently he resided for a season in the
neighborhood of Legh Richmond's parsonage,
of whom he speaks as " most affectionate and
warm-hearted/' Among the many instances
of the good effects produced by this vol-
ume, this is adduced, being in itself a host.
The ministry and writings of the author
of the " Dairyman's Daughter," " Young
Cottager," etc., are too well known to need
comment.
One of the greatest men of the age which
he adorned, employed himself, shortly before
his death, in reading the same volume. This
13*
150 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
was no other than Edmund Burke. "If I
live/' said he, " I will thank Wilberforce for
having sent such a book into the world/'
Dying, he committed the expression of his
gratitude to another.
" Let me recommend you to open on the
last section of • the fourth chapter/' was the
advice of the author to Mr. Pitt ; " you will
there see wherein the religion which I espouse
differs practically from the common system.
Also the sixth chapter has almost a right to
perusal, being the basis of all politics, and
particularly addressed to such as you."
A friend who at this season was with Mr.
Wilberforce at Bath, remarks the simplicity
of manner with which these numerous con-
gratulations were received. The mind thor-
oughly intent on duty can not easily be
drawn from its own appropriate sphere. The
inward life of the soul in its holy and vigor-
ous action, reduces all that is outward to its
proper proportion of influence. In this may
be found the secret of his equanimity. In
THE PKACTICAL VIEW. 151
his private journal lie writes : " April 14th,
Good Friday. I trust I feel true humilia-
tion of soul from a sense of my own un-
worthiness, a humble hope of the favor of
God in Christ." — " Some desire to devote
myself to Him who has so dearly bought
me ; some degree of that universal love and
good will which the sight of Christ crucified
is calculated to inspire. If the contempla-
tion here can produce these effects on my
hard heart, what will the vision of Christ in
glory produce hereafter ? I feel something
of pity too for a thoughtless world, and
what gratitude is justly due from me (the
vilest of sinners, when compared with the
mercies I have received) who have been
brought from darkness into light, and I trust
from the pursuit of earthly things to the
prime love of the things that are above !
purify my heart still more by thy grace !
Quicken my dead soul, and purify me by thy
Spirit, that I may be changed from glory to
glory, and be made even here in some degree
to resemble my heavenly Father."
XI
Hitherto Mr. Wilberforce seems. to have
acted up to the resolve of Queen Elizabeth
on her coronation-day, when she declared
herself ivedded to her country, and that no
other love should be admitted to share in or
divide her affections.
" I doubt/' he wrote to a friend, near the
close of 1796, "if I shall ever change my
situation. The state of public affairs concurs
with other causes in making me believe I
must finish my journey alone ! I much differ
from you in thinking that a man such as I
am has no reason to apprehend some violent
death or other. I do assure you that in my
own case I think it highly probable. Then
consider how extremely I am occupied.
HIS IAEKIAGE. 153
What should I have done had I been a
family man for the last three weeks ? But
I must not Jthink of these matters now, it
makes me feel my solitary state too sensibly.
Yet this state has some advantages ; it
makes me fed that I am not at home, and
imposes on me the duty of looking for and
hasting to a better country/'
On this subject, however, a change came
over his spirit. From the weariness of public
service he sought the retirement of a domes-
tic circle all his own, a sharer of* his heart — a
wife— a home.
At Bath he had become strongly attached
to one whom he thought well fitted to
become his companion through life. " I
believe her/' he says, "to be a real Chris-
tian, affectionate, sensible, rational in habits,
moderate in desires and pursuits ; capable of
bearing prosperity without intoxication, and
adversity without repining. If I have been
precipitate, forgive me, God ! But if, as I
trust, we shall both love and fear and serve
154 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
Thee, thou wilt bless us according to thy sure
word of promise/'
He was married on the 30th of May, 1797,
to Miss Barbara Ann, eldest daughter of
Isaac Spooner, Esq., of Elmdon Hall, in the
county of Warwick. This chosen companion
of his future way seems to have been of lovely
deportment and loving heart, with religious
and benevolent sympathies strongly aldn to
his own.
His very first visit in company with his
bride was at Cowslip Green. " By this com-
ing/' writes Hannah More to a friend, " he
repaid a sort of vow made many years since —
you will think it not amiss to make his agree-
able wife set out with such an act of humil-
ity/' He himself records the enjoyment de-
rived from this journey, the welcome of the
Misses More, and more especially the pros-
perity of the schools at Cheddar. An early
ride on Sunday morning enabled him to visit
these, and also the schools of some of the
neighboring parishes. Cheddar !— the very
HIS MARRIAGE. 155
spot over whose desolation, eight years before,
he had wept and prayed, and in behalf of
whose destitute ones he had awakened to
effort the energies of the ladies of Cowslip
Green. Now the labors of the Misses More
had penetrated far and wide, reaching to
many parishes, and causing the desert to
rejoice. The partakers of the benefits of
these schools now might be numbered by
thousands, her welcome and honored guest
having aided her constantly with pecuniary
means, as well as with the scarcely less
precious gift of countenance and sympathy.
Ever twined all too closely are life and
death, and the rejoicings of the bridal were
followed by a summons to Hull, to sympa-
thize with his afflicted sister. She had been
married to the Eev. Dr. Clarke, of Hull, who
had died suddenly. Mr. Wilberforce spent
three weeks with his mother and sister, and
then returned to London.
In his journal he writes, on the occasion of
156 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
his birthday : "I have the utmost cause for
self-humiliation, for gratitude, for grateful
confidence, for earnest breathings after use-
fulness. I have no time to write ; but let
me use the few minutes I have in praying to
God in Christ, the Author of my mercies,
beseeching Him to hear me, to fill me with
spiritual blessings, and enable me to live to
his glory. My marriage and the publication
of my book are the great events of the past
year. In both I see much to humble me and
fill my mouth with praises. Let me resign
myself to God, who has hitherto led me by
ways that I knew not."
Again, to his friend Mr. Macauley he
writes : " My cup was before teeming with
mercies, and it has at length pleased God to
add the only ingredient that was wanting to
its fullness. In this instance, as in many
others, His goodness has exceeded my utmost
expectations, and I ought, with renewed
alacrity and increased gratitude, to devote
myself to the service of my Benefactor. I
HIS MARRIAGE. 157
am half ready to blame myself for thus
descanting on the topic I have chosen, but it
is the strongest proof I can give you of my
friendship, that I have opened myself to you
on a subject on which, in speaking to a mere
acquaintance, I should have been the least
likely to dwell."
In a letter to his sister, after alluding to
his visit to Hull, he says : " Greatly indeed
have I reason to be thankful for the signal
blessing which Providence last year conferred
on me. My dearest wife bears my hurrying
way of life with great sweetness ; but it
would be a sort of jail-delivery to her, no less
than to myself, to escape from the tumult of
this bustling town and retire to the enjoy-
ment of country scenes and country occupa-
tions. But I am well aware that it is not
right for me to indulge in such reveries. My
business is cut out for me, and Providence
has greatly blessed me in the means of being
cheered under it • which means I should do
wrong to pervert into a source of indolent
14
158 WILLIAM WILBEKFOKCE.
self-enjoyment, flinching from my collar and
refusing to draw my load because a little
weary of being in the harness. At all times
when one feels this sense of weariness and
longs for quietness and peace, one should
endeavor to make it subservient to the pur-
pose of raising one's mind heavenward, and
of establishing a practical feeling of the
vanity and transitoriness of all human things,
and of this life being but a passage, and our
home that " rest that remaineth for the peo-
ple of God."
The widowed sister of Wilberforce subse-
quently became the wife of one of his dearest
friends, long one of the most valued of his
correspondents, and an influential and ardent
fellow-laborer in the cause of African freedom
— James Stephen. Confidence and brotherly
love, even till life's latest day, mark the let-
ters of these two, whose hearts were linked
together first by friendship and afterward by
family connection. The letters of Mr. Ste-
HIS MARRIAGE. 159
plien reveal a warmth of affection and rich-
ness of religious sentiment, mingling at times
with a vein of humor and quaintly original
speculation. The correspondents of Hannah
More, as well as those of Wilberforee, num-
ber many names famous in the literary world,
but the letters of Mr. Stephen are among the
best in her collection. He was the author of
several valuable works on African slavery,
particularly an able pamphlet entitled, " Eng-
land enslaved by her own Colonies/' A resi-
dence of some length in the West Indies had
given him a minute knowledge of the work-
ings of the system of colonial slavery, and in
the House of Commons, as well as with his
pen, he was ever ready to support the cause
of abolition.
A letter of pleasant and tender reminis-
cences, addressed to Wilberforee in 1328, is
full of interest. At the period to which Mr.
Stephen refers, he was himself under the
pressure of affliction. We give a little ex-
tract : " You probably do not recollect, but I
160 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
still do with, affectionate gratitude, a visit
that you made me in Sloane Street, this day
exactly thirty-four years ago. It was a very
useful one. This is one of the anniversaries
on which I remember sorrows that this life
cannot compensate, but trace from them the
wonderful and beneficent ways of that di-
vine Benefactor, who,
' Behind a frowning Providence
Oft hides a smiling face.'
" I sincerely wished for a long time after to
drop all intercourse with you and the friends
that surrounded you. I disliked all society
except that of my poor orphans, and the
kind friends who took charge of them. I
wished and expected soon to die ; and besides
had a blamable aversion for the company of
those who stood higher in rank or fortune
than myself, especially for the Pittite aris-
tocrats whom I generally met at your table.
But you, my kind friend, would not suffer me
to forsake you ; and the recollection of your
HIS MARRIAGE. 161
tender, generous conduct at that crisis of my
affliction was a tie that bound my heart to
you, till I found, two or three years after,
another bond of attachment/' — a Nor was
your coming at that crisis, and your subse-
quent compassionate and affectionate con-
duct a needless link in the chain of events
that led to my union with her/'
14*
XII.
f tifttfilo-j f imis*
In 1797 Mr. Wilberforce wrote on the fail-
ure of Ms motion with regard to the slave
trade. " I have been too long used to it to
feel much disappointment/' From year to
year had the subject been presented with a
steady perseverance which would not be de-
terred from its object. Yet its enemies had
gained strength. Gradually had opposition
assumed a bolder front. Among the circum-
stances that combined to frustrate the efforts
in behalf of the slave, was the unsettled and
troubled state of public affairs. The French
Revolution, beginning in the love of freedom,
and ending in unbridled license, convulsed
Europe with horror. Blood had flowed like
water in the streets of Paris, and the king
TROUBLOUS TIMES. 163
and queen, with multitudes of the nobility,
had perished by the guillotine. Principles,
calculated to disorganize society, to put down
all that was venerable and sacred, as well as
all that was unwelcome or oppressive, found,
to some extent, advocates in England.
French philosophy had found entrance into
many minds. Eevolutionary principles had
been compressed into sixpenny pamphlets,
and sold about the country. Greatly to the
injury of the cause of abolition, many of
these disorganizers were noisy advocates for
its success. The cause itself fell into dis-
grace. In the minds of many it was con-
nected with revolution, with misrule, with
the undermining of the existing customs of
society. They would hear nothing of it.
They hated even the name. The privileged
classes feared the rising of the people, the
nobles trembled in their high places. From
seats of power and influence came a deadly
opposition to every thing that could possibly
be connected with the madness of revolu-
164 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
tionary reform. Keligion trembled at the
audacious front that infidelity and even
atheism had assumed ; royalty felt the pre-
cariousness of its own grasp upon the scepter.
The time had been when George the Third,
at his levee, would pleasantly inquire, " How
go on your black clients, Mr. Wilberforce ?"
But this state of feeling had been followed,
on the part of the royal family, by one far
less favorable. Much, very much, did the ad-
vocates of the African cause suffer, from being
identified with the Jacobins of their day.
The insurrections of St. Domingo and Dom-
inica were laid to their influence ; the oppo-r
nents of freedom not scrupling to use them
as arguments that their worst predictions
were now being fulfilled.
That Mr. Wilberforce was the unflinching
friend of order and religion, that he was a
strongly-attached member of the National
Church, that his piety had here found its
home and nurture, might go far to shield him
personally from these imputations, but with
TKOUBLOUS TIMES. 165
many of his followers it was far otherwise.
The evil of all great reforms, that of enlisting
unworthy advocates, seemed peculiarly to
beset the cause of African freedom.
Besides the contest had now become an
old one. The eloquence of its advocates
alone made its mention tolerable. Wilber-
force, upheld by such supporters as Fox and
Pitt, kept it alive in the House of Commons,
when in other hands all allusion to it might
have been overruled. These were the dark
days of English abolition. " What tem-
pests/' wrote Wilberforce at the opening of
the nineteenth century, "rage around, and
how are we urged to seek for that peaceful
haven, which alone can insure real security
and happiness !"
At this time a plan was in process for the
establishment of a public journal of a re-
ligious character. It was to contain also u a
moderate degree of political and common in-
telligence/' In setting this forward, Mr.
166 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
Wilberforce was much occupied. As the
result of this, we find the " Christian Ob-
server/^ issued in January of 1802. Several
articles in its earlier numbers were from his
own pen, and from that of Mr. Henry Thorn-
ton.
The various other schemes of benevolent
effort which occupied his attention, may be
gathered from his journal. The " Slave
Trade/' " Society for Bettering the Condition
of the Poor/' " Proclamation Society/' " Sierra.
Leone/' " Condition of Children in Cotton
Mills," " Sunday Bill," u Oath Bill," are all
mentioned as in turn occupying his at-
tention.
" Never distress yourself, my dear Mary,"
he writes at another time to a relation, u on
the ground of my being put to expense on
account of yourself or your near relatives.
As it has pleased God, of his good Provi-
dence, to bless me with affluence, and to give
me the power, and I hope the heart, to assist
those who are less gifted with the good
GENEROUS BENEVOLENCE. 167
tilings of the present life, how can I employ
them more properly than in near relatives ;
and when I strengthen your hands, who are
always endeavoring to promote their best
interests. You may say to that, on
your account, I am willing to take the charge
of Charles' education for the next two years/'
Again in another letter he adds : " I trust
you are comfortably provided as to pecuniary
circumstances ; if not, remember that 1 am
your natural resort, as being your near rela-
tive and like-minded friend/'
We take, at this point, occasion to notice
the habits of Mr. Wilberforce, which these
extracts, trifling as they are, may help to illus-
trate. Even his gayest and most thoughtless
days had been marked by generous outlays
for those less favored by fortune than himself.
When, however, he came to regard as a
Christian his obligations to serve his fellow-
men, . these impulsive charities became at
once enlarged and systematic. This addi-
tional power was obtained by the avoiding
168 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
of extravagance, by the giving up of many
expenses common to young men of his station
and wealth. Early in the Christian life he
recognized the duty of self-denial, that the
means of doing good might be increased.
Previous to his marriage, one fourth of his
income seems to have been so employed, and
an imperfect record for one year accounts for
more than two thousand pounds. From all
the scattered items which we are able to
glean concerning the extent of his benefac--
tions, speaking in our own currency, we are
safe in saying that his annual gifts must
have amounted each year, for a large portion
of his life, to the sum of ten thousand dollars.
This, we are inclined to the opinion, is too
low an estimate. In one year of grievous
depression and scarcity a much larger sum is
expended. He writes, during the year refer-
red to, of "the heavy burden of obtaining
relief for our starving manufacturers in the
West Eiding of Yorkshire/' " I thank God
that I am able/' he writes the same year
SELF-DENIAL. 169
(1800) to Miss Hannah More, "without
inconvenience, to make an extraordinary ex-
ertion ; and as to keeping strictly within
one's income at such a season as this, it is
as unreasonable (not to say any thing of its
wickedness) as it would be for a man to keep
determinately to his ordinary rate of walking
when a hungry lioness was at his heels. But
we feel for our own safety more than for
another's sufferings. Indifferent health/' he
says, a at this time alone prevented" him
" from going down into the West Eiding to
ascertain facts" for himself; and in conse-
quence of the large call upon his purse he
thought of " giving up his villa for a few sea-
sons. I should thus/' he says, " save four or
five hundred pounds per annum, which I could
give to the poor. Yet to give up the means
of receiving friends there, where, by attending
family prayers, and in other ways, an impress-
ion may be made on them, seems a great
concession. And with Broomfield I can, by
management, give away one-fourth of my
15
170 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
income. Lord, guide me aright. But
there, or wherever else I am, do Thou grant
me Thy Holy Spirit to fill me with every
Christian grace, love, joy, peace, long-suffer-
mg.
Occasionally we gain a glimpse of the way
in which his manner of life was viewed by
others. " Our dear and benevolent friend/'
wrote Dr. Milner, with reference to the poor
manufacturers at this gloomy period, " abso-
lutely exhausts his strength on this subject.
He is the most feeling soul I ever knew, and
also the most patient and indefatigable in
endeavoring to lessen the miseries of the
people."
But the war-clouds that darken the face of
Europe seem about to part, and as a sudden
gush of sunlight comes the hope of peace.
This prospect is seized upon by Mr. Wilber-
force, and a "grand abolition plan" is pro-
jected, an agreement among the nations of
Europe to prohibit the slave-trade. This
year he will not risk a defeat — it shall not be
BRITISH WEST INDIES. 171
brought forward in the House : he will exert
his chief strength with the officers of the gov-
ernment. |
But the king and his cabinet had disa-
greed. The tried and trusty premier had
gone into retirement, and the new ministry-
was far less vigorous in itself, as well as less
favorable to the destruction of the slave-
trade. Wilberforce wrote in his diary : "If
Mr. Pitt had been minister when this peace
was negotiated, the question would have
come into discussion ; but Lord Hawkesbury
and Mr. Addington could not be persuaded.
At last I wrote to both of them very serious
letters, telling them I did so to leave it
with them solemnly/'
Deeply disappointed, he still persisted in
his efforts. Though " cast down" he was
not " destroyed/' The fortunes of war had
placed under British rule new and unculti-
vated islands in the West Indies. Specula-
tion was clamorous that these lands be
172 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
improved. They must be stocked with new
slaves — fresh importations from Africa. To
prevent this no exertion must be spared —
every energy of every friend to humanity is
needed now, not to do away the trade, but to
prevent its Increase. "What an eternal
blot/' wrote Wilberforce at this time, " would
it be on the character of Parliament if, after
having resolved by an immense majority that
the slave-trade should be -gradually abolished,
we should enter on the cultivation of a new
settlement, the complete peopling of which
with negro slaves, reckoning the number
always lost in opening uncleared lands, would
take nearly a million of human beings/'
The adverse temper of the existing House
of Commons could not be doubted. The
most that could be done was to wring a
reluctant consent from the prime-minister
that he would pause a little before opening
St. Vincent's and Trinidad for the reception
of newly-imported slaves.
THE NEW ADMINISTRATION. 173
While the new administration was form-
ing, the friends of Wilberforce hoped that
he might be included among the officers
of the cabinet. He himself confesses to some
"risings of ambition/' "I am too much,"
he says, "for a Christian, yet not greatly,
intruded upon by earthly things, in con-
sequence of these late political changes.
Blessed be God for this day of rest and
religious occupation, wherein earthly things
assume their true size and comparative insig-
nificance ; ambition is stunted, and I hope
my affections in some degree rise to things
above."
His views of the slave-trade rendered it
out of the question to hold office under the
circumstances.
" I am returning soon/' he wrote from
Bath, "to the bustle of London and political
life. May Grod protect me by his grace, and
enable me to stand the fiery trial. I shall if
I honestly wait on Him.
" Pitt and Kose dined with me quietly to-
15*
174 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
day. Pitt very pleasant, and we stayed,
chatting politics. What wonderful magnan-
imity !— wishing to form for Addington the
best possible administration. I do not won-
der if it be misunderstood. Little minds can
not receive the idea — it is too grand for their
comprehension. But to one who considers it
in all its bearings, and who estimates its full
worth, it will appear one of the noblest speci-
mens of true magnanimity/'
A temper so noble could only be under-
stood by being shared. The magnanimity
attributed by Wilberforce to his friend might
well be transferred by another to himself.
Had he sought earnestly for himself the
splendors of rank and title, the honors of
official power, who for a moment doubts that
they might have been attained to almost any
extent ? Had the young ambition that so
successfully prompted his first efforts after
distinction remained unchastened by a holier
principle, who can doubt that his career
would have been in accordance with its
SPIRITUAL CONFLICTS. 175
beginning — brilliant, successful, lofty ? But
it would not,j it could not have been, as now,
sacred, enduring, a remembrance treasured
deep in many hearts as proof of what our
nature may become under the moulding influ-
ence of the eternal and gracious Grod.
But only through conflicts can the soul
attain its strength ; and at this point of
time, laying open his inmost heart, do we
find the Christian writing words of sorrow
that on these particular subjects "his feel-
ings do not always correspond with his judg-
ment/' that though " comparatively indiffer-
ent" in his " cool estimate of the things of
this life/' he has yet become " soiled and
worldly-minded/' though convinced that "re-
tired domestic life is by far the most happy."
In this dubious state of mind he will not
stay, for he knows well that for the soul's
lassitude there is a remedy. He resolves that
he will apply himself even with more vigor
than before to the divine employ of walking
with God.
176 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
He adds : " Though in the main I have
thought myself pursuing the course chalked
out for me by Providence, and with a dili-
gence prompted and enjoined by the injunc-
tions of Scripture, yet I suspect that I had
better allot more time ; say two hours, or an
hour and a half, to religious exercises daily
(beside Sundays), and try whether, by so
doing, I can not preserve a frame of spirit
more habitually devotional ; a more lively
sense of unseen things ; a warmer love of
Grod, and a greater degree of hungering and
thirsting after righteousness ; a heart less
prone to be soiled with worldly cares, designs,
passions and apprehensions, and a real, undis-
Bembled longing for heaven, its pleasures and
its purity.
i I know all external means are nothing
without the quickening Spirit ; but the Scrip-
ture enjoins constant prayer, and the writings
and examples of all good men suggest and
enforce the necessity of a considerable portion
of meditation, and other religious exercises for
A NEW SUBJECT OF INTEREST. 177
maintaining the spiritual life vigorous and
flourishing. Let me therefore make the
effort in humble reliance on Divine grace.
God, if he will, can turn the hearts of men,
and give me favorable opportunities, and
enable me to use them, and more than com-
pensate for all the hours taken from study,
business, civility, and devoted to Him.
give me but a single heart and a single eye,
fixed on thy favors, and resolutely determined
to live to thy glory/'
Soon after we find him busy upon " a plan
for the education of the lower orders."
The public execution of a young man for
forgery at this time had the effect greatly to
strengthen, in the mind of Wilberforce, a long-
cherished disapprobation of the usual haste in
inflicting the penalty of the law. This case
was one of great affliction. The condemned
person was the son of a clergyman ; his wid-
owed mother had come to London on his
behalf, and much sympathy had been excited.
" He had been patronized/' Mr. Wilberforce
178 WILLIAM WILBEEFORCE.
wrote to Mr. Babington, " by the Marquis
of Buckingham, Windham and others, and
being dissipated and profuse beyond his
means, is now under sentence of death, and
sure to suffer. To be short, we trust it has
pleased God to bless the means which we
have used, and that the poor man is a true
convert. Providentially he has had far more
time than usual for preparation, and, as he
remarked himself when I was with him the
other day, he has enjoyed much more space
and leisure for religious consideration than if'
he had been lying on a sick-bed/' *
The hopes entertained that this mournful
period of leisure had been improved rendered
the brief time usually allowed in such cases a
thing of comment among those interested for
the fate of the unfortunate prisoner. At one
time Mr. Wilberforce wished to bring the
matter before Parliament. " To bring it for-
* Subsequently to this we find Mr. Wilberforce giving
attention to a bill for lessening the number of capital pun-
ishments.
RUMORS OF WAR. 179
ward would lead/' lie replied, when pressed
upon the subject, " to much profane ribaldry,
and no good result. Tou could only argue it
on grounds to which the great mass of mem-
bers are altogether strangers/' Carefully did
he guard the interests of religion by respect
to times and places, not exposing, by hasty
and badly-chosen opportunities, sacred topics
to the ridicule of the coarser and sterner
spirits with whom he came in contact. Yet
that this delicacy was united with ■ boldness
his whole life was a proof. Of the very low
tone of Christian doctrine sometimes adopted
by clergymen he would express his disappro-
bation by the remark : " I could say as much
as that in the House of Commons."
The sound of war was again heard. A
message from the king announced the neces-
sity of immediate military preparations. The
new administration was but feeble compared
with the former. " In almost every depart-
ment," wrote Mr, Wilberforce to Mr. Babing-
ton, "there has been sad mismanagement.
180 WILLIAM WILBEEFORCE.
Then my poor slaves ! This king's message
lias made it improper to bring forward my
intended motion. And all this time the
wicked abominations of the slave-trade are
going on in a greater degree than ever."
At this crisis a change was effected in the
king's cabinet, and Mr. Pitt was again placed
at the bead of public affairs.
In these darkened and troublous times was
laid the foundation of the " British and For-
eign Bible Society/' In the work of circulat-
ing the Scriptures Mr. Wilberforce and a few
others had been engaged privately , before any
organization had been attempted. It was
now proposed to combine in this great object
the scattered energies of Christians of every
name. The catholic aspect of this association
appealed to every heart enlarged with true
Christian love. He was one of its first found-
ers and fastest friends.
His journal' at this time records a narrow
escape from drowning, and afterward while on
a visit to a friend's house, we find the following :
SELF-EXAMINATION. 181
" Sad work, indeed ! oaths of a minor kind,
and much unprofitable talk. Alas ! I would
not live at Place to be subject to this
for any consideration/' Again, at another
time : "A servant here is dangerously ill. 1
know they have no objection to my talking
with him, yet I feel a sad lukewarmness and
even averseness to it. Did Christ feel the
same toward me and other poor sinners ?"
Again : "I saw the sick man for twenty
minutes, and prayed with him." Similar
entries to this last occur almost daily during
the remainder of his stay.
The leisure of the ensuing Christmas was
marked by self-examination and prayer. He
writes : u Give me, Lord, spiritual under-
standing ; let me drink of the water of life.
To thee, Lord, I fly for succor ; thy prom-
ises are sure, and thou wilt cast out none who
come to thee. There is my stay ; otherwise
thou mightest well cast me out ; but by
commanding us to have grace, to grow in
grace, thou showest us that we may. then
16
182 WILIIAM WILBERFORCE.
let me rouse myself, lest having preached to
others I myself should be a cast-away. I
have found my heart much affected by look-
ing at past entries in my journal, and at the
idea that to the eye of God all" my various
crimes, follies and vanities are present in
their full, unabated, unsoftened size and
character, as they at the time appeared to
me. Lord, enable me to purify myself as
thou art pure. I hope I feel deeply humbled
at the footstool of God's throne, and prostrate
I plead the atoning blood of Christ, and hum-
bly trust in his promises of pardon and of
grace. When I look forward to the scene
before me, and think how ill I have gone on,
I shrink back with dread. But, Lord, I
cast my case on thee, I flee to thee for suc-
cor. Saviour of sinners, save me. Help,
Lord, help, watch over me, guide and guard
me ! Amen."
"While his views of himself were thus heart-
humbling, those of his friends who saw most
intimately "the daily beauty of his life/'
HUMBLE VIEWS OF SELF. 183
could only give God thanks for the great
grace bestowed on him.
The contrast between the modest estimate
of himself, and that which his friends and
the public made of him, is sometimes very
striking. Having addressed a crowded audi-
ence at a religious anniversary, while his pre-
sence had given a charm to the occasion, and
his words of power had subdued the hearts
of the multitude, he records with entire sim-
plicity in his journal, that he did " pretty
well, and every body kind to me."
" I should like you/' said Mr. Stephen, in
his own playful vein, " to write a life of your-
self, and I would write another, and it would
be curious to see the different renderings
that would be given to the self-same facts/'
Yet our readers have doubtless observed,
even of the most depreciating clauses of his
daily journalizings, they are not the sweeping
accusations of a false humility, but often
qualified ; and if progress in the Christian
life can be only discerned, it is in all frank-
ness recorded, as well as its opposite.
XIII.
$lsalitxan si t\}t SJUln-ir&foK
No sooner was the new ministry formed,
than the Abolition Bill was again brought
forward. Though the change in the govern-
ment was not the cause of succefes, yet, in the
present state of affairs, it was regarded as a
bright omen. To prevent the extension of
slavery in the newly-occupied islands, had
latterly occupied much time, and also shut
out the main question. This was now re-
sumed under more favorable auspices. Sev-
eral circumstances conspired to strengthen
the hands of the friends of Africa. The in-
fluence of France was lessened. To her
bright, brief dawn of liberty had succeeded
the imperial rule of Napoleon, and her phil-
osopher reformers had come to be less
PROSPECTS BRIGHTENING. 185
dreaded. Union had been affected between
the English and Irish Parliaments, and in
both House's these new members were favor-
able to abolition. Some of the West Indian
body themselves had moderated their oppo-
sition, and talked of a compromise. The
idea had been broached, that it was possible
to overstock the islands with new importa-
tions. The prospects of freedom were bright-
ened. To the London Committee were
added several names, strong in zeal, and also
capable of guiding others. Among those we
find the names of Stephen, Macaulay and
Brougham. Still, however, there existed an
opposition, formidable in numbers, wealth,
and rank, in the House, while without, from
some who ruled the literary tastes of the
community, came an influence scarcely less
powerful. The advocates for Africa felt that
the time had come for a vigorous and united
effort.
On the 30th of May, 1804, Mr. Wilberforce
16*
moved the first reading of the Bill. It
186 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
passed by a large majority. The friends of
the cause gained additional courage. John
Newton, now verging in his eightieth year,
wrote :
" Though I can scarcely see the paper be-
fore me, I must attempt to express my
thankfulness to the Lord, and to offer my
congratulations to you, for the success which
He has so far been pleased to give to your
unwearied endeavors for the abolition of the
slave-trade, which I have considered as a
mill-stone, sufficient of itself to sink such an
enlightened and highly-favored nation as ours
to the bottom of the sea/' — " I have now a
new proof of what I always professed to be-
lieve, that to prayer, faith, and patient
perseverance, all things are possible." —
" Whether I, who am within two months of
entering my eightieth year, shall live to see
the accomplishment of the work, is only
known to Him in whose hands are all our
times and ways ; but the hopeful prospect of
its accomplishment will, I trust, give me
A FAILURE. 187
daily satisfaction as long as my declining
faculties are preserved."
From this time little doubt was felt with
regard to the final issue. But that the
struggle was not yet over, was apparent to
those best acquainted with its perplexities.
At the opening of Parliament, the next year,
Mr. Wilberforce was urged to put off the
presentation. Mr. Pitt wished then, not feel-
ing so firmly fixed in power as before, to put
aside all questions that could possibly have
the effect to divide his friends. But Mr.
Wilberforce absolutely refused. " I will
never," said he, " make that holy cause sub-
servient to the interests of a party." The
minister could estimate his motives. He
writes that Pitt " called on me, and was very
kind about it." The Bill was brought in at
an early period. The event proved that
those who considered the work as done, had
been too sanguine. It failed on a second
reading, manifestly through the absence of a
188 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
few who on former occasions had given it
their support. This was a surprise as well as
a grief.
"Alas, my dear Muncaster," wrote Mr.
Wilberforce, "from the fatal moment of our
defeat on Thursday evening, I have had a
damp struck into my heart. I could not
sleep on Thursday or Friday night, without
dreaming of scenes of depredation and
cruelty on the injured shores of Africa, and
by a fatal connection diffusing the bale-
ful effects through the interior of that vast
continent. I really have had no spirits to
write to you. Alas, my friend, in what a
world do we live ! Mammon is the God we
adore, as much almost as if we actually
bowed the knee to his image."
In January of this year was finished the
earthly career of that great statesman —
William Pitt. We pause for a moment to
record the observations of his friend on this,
to him, most affecting event.
"There is something peculiarly affecting
DEATH OF PITT. 189
in the time and circumstances of poc^r Pitt's
death. I own I have a thousand times, (aye,
times without number,) wished and hoped
that a quiet interval would be afforded him,
perhaps in the evening of life, in which he
and I might confer freely on the most im-
portant of all subjects. But the scene is
closed — for ever/'
To another friend he writes : " Poor Pitt,
I almost believe, died of a broken heart ! for
it is only due to him to declare, that the love
of his country burned in him with as ardent
a flame as ever warmed the human bosom,
and the accounts from the armies struck a
death's blow within." — " A broken heart !
He was in the station the highest for power
and estimation in the whole kingdom— the
favorite, I believe on the whole, both of king
and people. Yes, this man, who died of a
broken heart, was First Lord of the Treasury,
and Chancellor of the Exchequer. The time
and circumstances of his death were peculiar-
ly affecting, and I really believe, however in-
190 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
credulous you may be, that it dwelt on the
minds of the people in London, for — shall I
say, as I was going to say, for a whole week ?
I really never remember any event producing
so much apparent feeling. But London soon
returned to its gayety and giddiness, and all
the world has been busy about his inherit-
ance before the late possessor is laid in his
grave. Poor fellow ! It is an inexpressible
satisfaction to me to be able to reflect, that I
never for a moment gave him reason to be-
lieve that I had any object whatever of a
worldly kind in continuing my friendly con-
nection."
The new ministry, at the head of which
were Mr. Fox and Lord Grenville, favored the
abolition cause. The experience of last year
had proved that much was to be done.
Mr. Wilberforce had for some time designed
writing an Address on the Slave-Trade, and
in the interval of Parliament set resolutely
about it. Facts once well known had, with
the lapse of years, passed from the minds of
SLAVE-TRADE ABOLISHED. 191
men. Clarkson, the early and untiring la-
borer, now with renovated health, set forth in
quest of new witnesses, to prove the abomina-
tions of the trade, and arouse the energies of
its opponents.
A year had not passed since the death of
Mr. Pitt, when his great rival was no more.
Mr. Fox died in the interval of the two ses-
sions. Both of these master-spirits among
men were from the beginning the friends of
African freedom. " Two things," said Mr.
Fox on his death-bed, " I wish earnestly to
see accomplished — peace with Europe, and
the abolition of the slave-trade ; but of the
two I wish the latter."
The great work was not to be stayed by
the death of its powerful friends. The pam-
phlet in preparation by Mr. Wilberforce was
designed particularly to produce an influence
in the House of Lords. At once bold and
conciliatory, it was well adapted for the effect
designed, and its influence was manifest in
192 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
the discussions of the Upper House. " In
admiring your triumph/' writes Mr. Hayley,
"I also admire the lenity with which you
adorn it. Tou treat your opponents with
the mild magnanimity of a British admiral,
who, when the thunder of his cannon has re-
duced the ships of his enemies, exerts his
fortitude and skill to save them from utter
perdition."
During the progress of the abolition strug-
gle, prolonged as it was, this very feature in
the character of its parliamentary advocate
had sometimes given offense. The smallest
grace, the most obvious justice even, awarded
to an opponent, is offensive to the hot-headed
partizatfi. The singular candor that would
always state with their due weight the argu-
ments of an adversary, necessarily to some
was offensive, for the intrinsic beauty of
truth and justice is by the mass even of good
men much less plainly discerned than are the
lines of party division. Yet was this very
candor and benignity of spirit repeatedly the
SLAVE-TRADE ABOLISHED. 193
means of disarming opposition ; and but for
its influence, we may well doubt whether the
cause of the slave would ever have found a
majority in the House of Lords.
The approaching debate called for every
exertion. Names of influence in the Upper
House were still found in the opposition.
The Duke of Clarence had declared openly
against the bill, speaking out, as was under-
stood, the sentiments of the reigning family.
The friends meantime were on the alert. On
the morning of the debate Wilberforce went
over the list of peers with Lord Grenville.
He could scarce entertain a doubt of success.
With the evening the crisis came. The bill
was carried by a large majority.
The victory was now regarded as sure.
" I receive/' wrote Wilberforce, " congratu-
lations from all, as if all were done, but I
can not be sure. May it please God to give
us success."
But the hour of triumph drew nigh. The
bill passed to its second reading in the House
17
194 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
of Commons. The day previous every pros-
pect was in its favor. " Never, surely/' wrote
he, "had I more cause for gratitude than
now, Avhen carrying the great object of my
life. Lord, let me praise Thee with my
whole heart !"
Thus he entered the House on the 23d of
February, 1807. Never before had that body
given such honor to one of its members.
When called upon in the address of Sir
Samuel Eomilly to contemplate the result
of the struggle of so many years, to contrast
the feelings of the Emperor of the French in
all his greatness with one present, who would
that night lay his head upon his pillow, and
remember that the slave-trade was no more,
every eye was turned toward Wilberforee,
and the assembled legislators, forgetful of
their usual gravity, burst out in acclamations
of applause !
"Is it true," asked Mr. Hey, "that the
House gave you three cheers at the con-
clusion of the Solicitor General's speech ?"
SLAVE-TRADE ABOLISHED. 195
" I can only say/' was the reply, " that I
was myself so completely overpowered by my
feelings, when he touched so beautifully on
my domestic reception, (which had been pre-
cisely realized a few evenings before, on my
return from the House of Lords,) that I was
insensible to all that was passing around
me."
The debate proceeded. The opposition
of one West India planter roused yet once
more the same eloquent voice that near
twenty years before had begun its pleadings
for Africa. The last opponent was quelled.
Then came the voting. The result was an
overwhelming triumph.
In fancy we may follow the advocate for
abolition to his home. Already his best be-
loved friends are coming in, wearing each a
festival air of joy. Thornton, Macaulay, and
Grant, and Stephen, and that earnest, earliest
laborer — Granville Sharpe. We call up to
the mind's eye the animated form and speak-
ing countenance of the master, radiant with
196 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
solemn joy, serene yet sparkling, as one by
one these faithful friends speak out their ex-
ulting congratulations. One was in that
company to whom Wilberforce was for the
first time made known, a name since widely
known and well beloved — Eeginald Heber.
There was after this a slight embarrass-
ment owing to the change in the administra-
tion. Again the matter required vigilance.
It passed in the House of Lords, and the
ministry about to go into retirement made
its consummation their last act. Two days
after, it received the royal assent, and became
a law.
Victory was at last complete. Congratula-
tions flowed in from all sides. " To speak,"
wrote Sir James Mcintosh from the other
Indies, " of fame and glory to Mr. Wilber-
force would be to use language far beneath
him. what twenty years in the life of one
man were those which abolished the slave-
trade ! How precious is time ! How valua-
SLAVE-TRADE ABOLISHED. 197
ble and dignified is human life, which in
general appears so base and miserable ! How
noble and! sacred is human nature, made
capable of achieving such truly great ex-
ploits r
For himself, the great and favored leader
in this holy cause, only in ascriptions of grat-
itude and praise could he give vent to his
emotions. " Oh what thanks do I owe to the
Giver of all good for bringing me in His gra-
cious Providence to this great cause, which at
length, after almost nineteen years' labor, is
successful I"
What, indeed, was all the glory won in
fields of war by the idol of the French army,
compared with this one bloodless victory —
this one triumph of those great principles of
peace and love, whose Divine Author has
declared of himself that he came into the
world "not to destroy men's lives, but to
save them !
17*
XIV.
The attachment of the Yorkshire men to
their distinguished representative was strong
and ardent. We find, however, when rival
candidates were at times opposed to him,
seasons of great political excitement occurred.
These contested elections served to reveal the
extent of the regard entertained toward him
by his constituents. The struggle of 1807
was the most remarkable one. Two powerful
opponents were in the field at this time, and
only the consciousness of a strong hold on the
minds and hearts of men could have induced
Mr. Wilberforce to have entered the lists
under the circumstances. That he had never
been a resident in Yorkshire, and also that he
had always acted independently of political
A CONTESTED ELECTION. 199
parties, were calculated to circumscribe his
influence and throw him more directly upon
the personal regard, the respect- for his char-
acter and reputation, which was so largely-
accorded him.
Five years before this, at an approaching
election, he had himself thought of retiring
from his arduous position. At that time
there was little opposition, but he writes :
" I pant for quiet and retirement, and what
is more, I entertain serious doubt whether
I should not act wisely in retiring from
my public station — whether I should not
be able to promote the glory of Grod and
the good of my fellow-creatures more in
private. My pen might then be employed
regularly and assiduously. But I am deter-
red from yielding to the impulse I feel thus
to secede, by the fear of carving for myself/'
Again, after a natural allusion to the unde-
sirableness of being " turned out/' he adds :
"When this should have been conquered, I
own I should rejoice in my liberty. However,
200 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
I would leave my continuance in public life
to Providence, and not retire till its signal
be given for my release/'
This election, in 1802, had been carried
triumphantly, and was thus commented upon
by his cousin, Lord Carrington, in a letter
which was docketed by Mr. Wilberforce,
"kind condolence on my reelection :" " The
event/' says the letter, "which has given
your other friends so much pleasure, has
filled me with sentiments of an opposite
nature. No constitution can stand, during
the ordinary period of an active life, such
exertions as yours have been in the service of
York. It would have been better if, like
Windham, but without his struggle and
defeat, you had taken refuge in a close bor-
ough, the means of which I should have been
proud to have afforded you/'
At the period of the present contest, Mr.
Wilberforce evinced far less disposition to
retire. The successful issue of the great
question, which had occupied so many years.
A CONTESTED ELECTION. 201
had probably rather stimulated than satisfied
the desire to exert himself for the public
good. Other questions of importance were
also in the perspective of the future. He
therefore, in compliance with the custom
which placed the political candidate face
to face with his constituents, set off for
York, and, narrowly escaping on the journey
a serious accident, plunged at once into the
contest.
The nomination was in his favor, and the
incidental expenses were at once assumed by
his friends. On the first day of the election,
however, appearances were against him. Some
began to despond. But the county had not
shown its strength, and the vast muster of
freeholders on the third day changed the
aspect of things. "Boats/' says one, "are
proceeding up the river heavily laden with
voters ; farmers lend their wagons ; even
donkeys have the honor of carrying voters for
Wilberforce, and hundreds are proceeding on
foot. No money can convey all the voters,
202 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
but if their feelings are aroused his election is
secure."
"My being left behind on the poll/' he
writes to Mrs. Wilberforce, on the evening of
Friday, " seemed to arouse the zeal of my
friends ; they exerted themselves, and have
mended my condition. You would be grati-
fied to see the affection that is borne me by
many to whom I am scarcely or not at all
known. I am thankful for the weather/' (the
preceding days had been stormy and boister-
ous,) " and indeed I am thankful for a quiet
mind, which is placed above the storm."
Of the scene of popular tumult which took
place during these election days, we can
hardly form an idea. Boisterous applause
and as boisterous abuse seemed to be the
inevitable lot of the candidate for the public
confidence. The assemblies addressed were
unruly and tumultuous. He writes : " Latterly
they will not hear me." As an instance of
the respect in which even here his religious
character was held, we find that the Sabbath
A CONTESTED ELECTION. 203
was left to him comparatively unmolested.
At these times he was able to " bless God
that his mind was pretty free from poli-
tics." "I was much struck/' says one, "to
see how totally he had dismissed from his
mind all thoughts of the approaching contest.
His conversation related entirely to subjects
suited to the day. He was speaking par-
ticularly about the words c Being made meet
for the inheritance of the saints in light/
and seemed free from any sort of care about
what was coming."
The following letter illustrates these re-
marks. It was addressed to Mrs. Wilber-
force :
" Sunday night, May 24.
"I am robbed of the time I meant to spend
in writing to you, at least of a great part of
it ; but you will be glad to hear that I have
spent a pleasant Sunday, though this evening
is of necessity passed in my committee-room.
I have been twice at the Minster, where the
sublimity of the whole scene nearly over-
204 WILLIAM WILBEKFOKCE.
came me. It is the largest and finest Gothic
building probably in the whole world. The
city is full of freeholders, who came in such
numbers as to fill the whole area of the place
(a very large one) where the service is per-
formed, and every seat and pew were filled.
I was exactly reminded of the great Jewish
passover in the temple, in the reign of Josiah.
It is gratifying to say that there was the
utmost decency, and not the smallest noise
or indecorum, no cockades or distinctive marks.
Indeed, I must say, the town is wonderfully
quiet considering it is an election time.
"How beautiful Broomfield must be at
this moment ! Even here the lilacs and
hawthorn are in bloom in warm situations.
I imagine myself roaming through the shrub-
bery with you and the little ones ; and, in-
deed, I have joined you in spirit several
times to-day, and have hoped we were ap-
plying together at the same throne of grace.
How merciful and gracious is God to me !
Surely the universal kindness that I experi-
A CONTESTED ELECTION. 205
ence is to be regarded as a singular instance
of the goodness of the Almighty.
" I bless God my mind is calm and serene,
and I can leave the event to Him without
anxiety ; desiring that, in whatever state I
may be placed, I may adorn the doctrine of
God my Saviour, and do honor to my Chris-
tian profession. But all is uncertain, at least
to any human eye. I must say good-night.
May God bless you. Kiss the babes, and
give friendly remembrances to all family and
other friends. Every blessing to you and
ours in time and eternity."
The calm sunshine of the spirit seems, in
the midst of this exciting contest, to have
been scarcely overclouded. It is compara-
tively easy in stillness and retirement, and
freedom from disturbing causes, to cultivate
religious devotion. But while one records
that he has heard the candidate repeating to
himself the sweet and sacred stanzas be-
ginning :
18*
206 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
" The calm retreat, the silent shade
With prayer and praise agree;"
another opens a view of the tumult that was
abroad. " Nothing since the days of the
Kevolution," says the York Herald, "has ever
presented to the world such a scene as this
great county for fifteen days and nights.
Eepose or rest have been unknown in it, ex-
cept as it was seen in a messenger asleep
upon his post-horse ; or in his carriage.
Every day the roads in every direction to and
from every remote corner of the county, have
been covered with vehicles loaded with voters,
barouches, curricles, gigs, flying wagons, and
military cars with eight horses, crowded
sometimes with forty voters, have been
scouring the country, feaving not the slight-
est chance for the quiet traveler to urge his
humble journey, or find a chair at an inn to
sit down upon."
During the closing days of the contest,
Mr. Wilberforce was withdrawn from it by
an attack of illness which confined him to his
A CONTESTED ELECTION. 207
room. The rumor that he was dead was now
circulated, but, notwithstanding this, as well
as other ruiiiors, he was found in the ascend-
ancy, and once more declared member for
Yorkshire.
Seated in Parliament, business engrossed
his attention. He complains of the "de-
bates " as " poor compared with former
times/' He had himself entered so young
upon the public service, that though still in
life's prime, his earliest associates had passed
away. He missed the great men of a former
day. Burke and Pitt and Fox — all were
gone. " There is no man now," hq adds, " to
take the lead like Pitt. Yet Percival im-
proves, and Canning* is extremely clever/'
Of the prime-minister he says, after alluding
to his suavity and kindness, in contrast with
the rough churlishness of another, " I believe
him (Percival) to be a man of ^n undaunted
spirit, but his modesty prevents him from
taking that high tone, which at such a time
208 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
as this, rendered Pitt so equal to the emer-
gency."
One thought of Christian love readily ex-
pands itself into another, and still another,
and accordingly we find the advocate for the
slaves of the Guinea Coast, and the millions
of Asiatics, seeking sustenance for a handful
of Moravian converts who dwelt among the
ice-cliffs of Greenland, nor resting till he had
procured " the dispatch of vessels on this er-
rand of mercy." Now he is deeply interested
in a " bill for the reduction of capital punish-
ments," and now " off early to London to the
war-office, about the boy Nowell, unlawfully
recruited,", and again to the colonial office
about Marsden and a poor woman." Alive
to every call of sorrow, the counselor and
helper of the distressed, he won for himself
the title of "Attorney General for the un-
protected and friendless." Of his habits of
perseverance, when he had undertaken an
object of justice or benevolence, we find the
testimony of one of the heads of the colonial
RESPECT FOR THE SABBATH. 209
office, whom he had been compelled to weary
with demands of this nature. Alluding to
the general opinion that Mr. Wilberforce was
possessed of a "gentle, yielding character/' he
intimates that the whole world is mistaken
in its estimate, declaring that he has found
him on the contrary to be " obstinate" to the
very last degree. This secret of perseverance
when pressed by obstacles may be found
compressed into a line. Finding himself at
the head of a minority in the House, on one
of these questions affecting the public morals,
he writes of the " parties — ours most re-
spectable, theirs most numerous ; so much so
that it is painful to persevere, but we must
please God and assert his cause' 3
The value attached by Mr. Wilberfore to
the rest of the Sabbath, his care to preserve
the day sacred from the intrusions of busi-
ness, his grief when interruptions broke in
upon his usual habits, can not fail to strike
the most careless observer of his course.
18*.
210 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
By this he was helped to preserve an un-
ruffled spirit amid scenes of intense and pro-
longed excitement. The fact that he was
able every seventh day to disengage his mind
from the turmoils of public life, he speaks of
as a great antidote to its temptations. This
influx of better thoughts at those seasons
doubtless exerted a great influence upon
other days. Continually we find in his diary
tributes of thanksgiving for the Sabbath.
The melancholy end of another eminent pub-
lic man, his evident insanity and suicide, a
few years after this time, were attributed to
" wear and tear of mind." " It is very curi-
ous/' writes Mr. Wilberforce, with reference
to this, " to hear the newspapers speaking of
incessant application to business, forgetting
that by the weekly admission of a day of rest,
which our Maker has graciously enjoined, our
faculties would be preserved from this inces-
sant strain."
The mention of this last circumstance has
BIBLE SOCIETY MEETING. 211
carried us forward in our narrative, and we
hasten to return.
The meeting of Parliament, in the winter
of 1808, was put off from Monday to Thurs-
day of the same week, the prime-minister
willingly acceeding to the suggestion of Mr.
Wilberforce, that from the first arrangement
a large amount of Sunday traveling must
necessarily ensue. With a noble grace that
deserved a better fate, Mr. Percival replied to
the remonstrance, regretting that the cir-
cumstance had failed to attract his own at-
tention.
On the third of May of the same year a
most grateful sight was presented in the an-
niversary of the Bible Society. With ex-
uberant joy does Mr. Wilberforce speak of
the spectacle of " five or six hundred people
of all sects and parties, with one heart, and
face, and tongue."
But this was but a temporary calm amid a
storm. The sweet charities of life must not
212 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
consume tlie days of a servant of the public,
for commotions are still threatening the land.
War is still abroad, and her tempest shakes
the ark of the government. u The House of
Commons has lost the public confidence/'
wrote Wilberforce. " The times are highly
alarming. It would be worse to stifle in-
quiry than to prosecute it. Yet T see that
the people may be inflamed to madness, or at
least to the most mischievous excesses and
measures. may He who rides in the whirl-
wind direct the storm for our good/'
The prospect of an American war appeared
also in the distance. As this gradually grew
nearer, Mr. Wilberforce assumed a decided
opposition to whatever tended to such a re-
sult. In July, 1811, in the closing debate,
he gave utterance to his feelings : " Deeply,
sir, do I deplore the gloom which I see
spreading over the western horizon, and I
most earnestly trust that we are not to be in-
volved in the misfortune of a new war, aggra-
vated by possessing almost the character of a
THE AMERICAN WAR. 213
civil strife — a war between two nations who
are the children of the same family, and
brothers in the same inheritance of common
liberty."
At a subsequent session (an inflammation
of the lungs having deprived him of his usual
power) he says : "I am wanting my voice
much, that I may plead the cause of Chris-
tianity in India, and soften the asperity of
hostile tempers between Great Britain and
America. I am strongly disposed to go to
the House, if Whitehead brings in this mo-
tion, that I may declare the grief and pain
with which the very thought of a war
with America fills my heart. I have often
thought that we have not enough borne in
mind that the people of America have great
influence over their government, and that
their thinking that a great number of people
in this country feel for them, might tend to
allay irritation, even if a war should break
out." Notwithstanding his inability to use
his voice, he went on this occasion to the
214 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
House for the first time that; session, and
spoke for about twenty minutes.
An event occurred at this period which
sent a shock through the kingdom — the
death of the prime-minister, under circum-
stances of startling horror. " Stopped,"
says Mr. Wilberforce, " to dine at Babing-
ton's at half-past four. He came in greatly
agitated, stating that Percival had been
shot dead in the lobby. We could scarce
believe it."
The perpetrator of this most dreadful deed
seems, as far as we are able to gather, to
have been laboring under a singular halluci-
nation. Supposing himself injured by the
government, he determined on revenge. That
the minister was the victim was without
design.
The next Sunday Mr. Wilberforce wrote in
his journal : " 0, wonderful power of Chris-
tianity ! Never can it have been seen, since
our Saviour prayed for his murderers, in a
more lovely form than in the conduct and
MURDER OF PERCIVAL. 215
emotions it has produced in several on
the occasion of poor dear Percivars death.
Stephen, who had been at first so much
overcome by the stroke, had been this
morning, I found, praying for the wretched
murderer ; and thinking that his being
known to be a friend of Percivars might af-
fect him, he went and devoted himself to
trying to bring him to repentance. The poor
creature was much affected, and very humble
and thankful, but spoke of himself as un-
fortunate rather than guilty ; and said it was
a necessary thing. Strange perversion- — no
malice against Percival.
u Poor Mrs. Percival, after the firfet, grew
very moderate and resigned, and with all her
children knelt down by the body and prayed
for them, and the murderer's forgiveness/'
To Mr. Hey he wrote : " Alas ! into what
times are we thrown ! I can not help think-
ing I see the source of that savage spirit that
prevails so much."
This he attributes to the decay of reverence
216 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
for authority and order, leaving, u where the
fear of God has no place, the mind to the
spirit of bad passions. I trust/' he adds,
"that we are introducing the true remedy,
indeed, the only remedy of our diseased na-
ture, by teaching the mass of our people the
knowledge of the Scriptures. Surely it is an
indication of the favor of the Almighty, that
we have been enabled to spread so exten-
sively the system of education/' The com-
motions of the times, moreover, he proceeds
to ascribe to the spread of " seditious publi-
cations/' The letter continues —
" It is no small pleasure to me to believe
that Mr. Percival had an habitual desire to
please God ; and I doubt not he looked to
him with unfeigned humiliation, through the
Kedeemer. It is really an honor to our
House, that his private virtues were so gen-
erally recognized among us. Well, my dear
sir, l there remaineth a rest ;' and pray for me
and mine, that we may enter into it after the
short voyage of this tempestuous life/'
XV.
§ amtstic 1 B »•
"I haye already discovered," said Mr.
Wilberforce, in a letter to a friend, " that
children are very acute observers. Often
when they seem to be playing about the
room, heedless of all that is going forward,
it appears afterward that they have heard,
and remembered, too, the conversation."
Again, he writes to another friend : " I
mean to make education my chief object.
Pray for me, that I may be able to succeed.
I can truly say I feel my own deficiencies."
"His efforts," says one, "were aimed at
opening the mind — creating a spirit of in-
quiry, and strengthening the powers." Of
accomplishments which might be exhibited,
winning a direct return of praise, fostering
19
218 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
vanity, etc., he was comparatively jealous.
With watchful eyes, observing the minutest
tendencies of character, he endeavored to
lead to the " highest principles of action."
If the calls of ordinary business may excuse
a parent from an intimate association with
his children, surely the responsibilities of
public life may plead the same exemption.
Sad, indeed, is it that, in either case, such
should ever be claimed. For to know chil-
dren intimately, to watch intelligently their
springs of thought, may be, to the wisest
of men, one of the best possible means of
increasing in wisdom. All that is imparted
to children returns with redoubled value to
him who gives. But as the earliest life of
the child is love, so love must be the medium
through which he is approached.
On this ground now we meet the subject
of this memoir. Not as the Christian legis-
lator, the eloquent orator, the advocate for
the rights of man ; but in his home, by the
fireside, or beneath the spreading trees, or in
DOMESTIC JOYS. 219
sweet garden-paths, or on tlie Sabbath-day,
going to the house of God. Still with these
little companions about him, gay as they are
with childish mirth, roaming amid scenes of
beauty, climbing the flowery slopes or resting
on the green turf, or reciting hymns or favor-
ite extracts of poetry as they are seated in
the carriage on their way to church — for even
in the busiest season the Sabbath, at least, is
theirs. Absent every hour through the week,
they long for the appearing of that father at
its close, and duly are the flowers in the
little garden-plots hoarded, that they may be
gathered for a bouquet to greet him on the
morning of that day of rest.
If to a tender and overflowing love be
added a discriminating watchfulness, with
power to persuade to do what is good, the
idea of parental influence becomes perfected.
"He is always afraid of strangers," said
the nurse of his infant child, naturally enough,
on one occasion. The expression sank deep
into the heart of the father. A stranger !
220 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
was it right or wise or kind for one, by any
calls of business, by any possible idea of use-
fulness, to be estranged from his children ?
No ; to this he will never submit Whatever
may be the customs of the world, whatever
the examples by which he may be surrounded,
he, at least, will know his children — and he
did. Their ringing shouts of merriment be-
came music in his ear ; and to promote their
happiness and direct their minds in paths of
wisdom and goodness became the choicest
pleasure of his leisure hours. Pleasant, in-
deed, is it to follow those favored children in
their daily walks, for now the recess of Parlia-
ment sends both parents and children into
the country. These walks are made to be
occasions for improvement. What books
have these boys been reading ? How much
do they really know of their contents ?
Hardly will one of them risk the assertion
that he has read a book, if he has only
amused himself by running it over. No ;
for the beloved sharer of these daily rambles
DOMESTIC JOYS. 221
has a way of talking about the book which
makes it necessary that the boy should know
something of it, too, in order to fill his part
in the conversation. Then as to worthless
books (lacking either mental or moral power),
we can fancy they found little favor with this
watchful parent.
Then the evening gathering, when Shak-
speare and Southey were discussed, and the
presiding genius of the scene lent his own
silvery voice, giving added life to the tuneful
pages of the "Lady of the Lake/' Then,
too, there were serene and more solemn hours
of Sabbath eventide, when Cowper and the
old Hebrew bards took the place of lighter
lays.
Then there were those long excursions that
took the whole day — " Caesar's camp, and
the cherry-orchard," the dinner eaten in the
woods, all burdens thrown by ; yet even here,
some favorite little volume finds its way,
some cherished passage read aloud at a rest-
ing-place, and anon the voice of song is heard
19*
222 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
waking its echoes among tlie dim aisles of the
forest trees.
u There is no way," remarked Mr. Wilber-
fore to a friend, "in which children's tem-
pers are more indicated than in such excur-
sions." Again : ^ It is of great importance to
preserve? boys' affections, and prevent them
from thinking home a dull place."
To a little daughter he writes : " I am
much pressed for time to-day ; hut I must
send an answer, though a short one, to my
dear girl's highly acceptable letter, for I do
not consider as a reply the few lines which I
added to my letter to mamma, two or three
days ago. While I am rambling about from
place to place, my heart still keeps its sta-
tion ; and, strange as it may seem, a certain
little girl has such a firm hold on my affec-
tion, that wherever I am, she is continually
presenting herself to my mind's eye, and
calling forth the most tender wishes for her
happiness. The day, I trust, will come when
DOMESTIC JOYS. 223
she will be able to travel about with me, not
merely in idea, but in her own person.
Meanwhile, we should be very thankful for
having the means of hearing about those we
love, when we are far removed from them.
We are now almost two hundred miles asun-
der, vet I trust B. will be reading this the
day after to-morrow, at about the same time
of day at which I am now writing it. I trust
that all my children, especially the elder
ones, are more eminently careful when I am'
away to abstain from all that would give
mamma pain, and to do whatever will give
her pleasure, in order to make up to her for
my absence. May God bless my dear chil-
dren, and more particularly my dear little
girl. How ardently do I long to see clear
and indubitable proofs of your having re-
ceived that divine grace which we must all
possess before we can be admitted into the
heavenly world. In you, and in my other
children, I am always looking to discover any
buddings of that fruit of the Spirit which
224 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
this- blessed agent will produce where it really
operates, just as a gardener looks over his
fruit-trees from day to day to see whether tke
peaches and the nectarines are beginning to
appear. I trust I do discern, now and then,
a bud in my beloved child's heart. !
cherish it, my clearest child, and try to pre-
vent its becoming nipped or blasted, so as
not to come to perfection.
ii Once more, may God bless you.
" Ever your most affectionate."
In the next there is a sweet elegance as
well as tenderness. It is addressed to Mrs.
Wilberforce, written from home, the mother
and children being absent : — " I have been
sitting under the trees reading and writing.
The only part of the garden which I did not
enjoy was one to which I went purposely, to
see how all looked — the children's gardens.
Even the fullest exuberance of summer beau-
ties could not supply the want of animal
life. Barbara's gum-cistus is in high beauty,
DOMESTIC JOYS. 225
and the roses in full bloom. My own room
produces something of the same melancholy
as the children's gardens/'
This time, however, he consoles himself that
he is " going to dine at Babington's, to meet
Bobert Hall/' whose genius and piety he well
knew how to value. Alluding to the " shy-
ness " of that celebrated man, he says, " he
could not bring himself to come to me,
though hearing that he wished to see me, I
wrote him a long letter to banish all such
feelings, and settle about our meeting."
Writing at one time of an absent son :
" Mr. B/s last letter suggests some very pain-
ful fears that — 's temper has been again
ungoverned. Dear, dear boy ! Though
writing at the committee-table, with people
all around me, I can scarce refrain from tears
while I thus write about him. that he
would pray earnestly ! How sure I am that
he would then be blessed with grace, and be
enabled to make our hearts leap for joy.
226 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
Farewell — a thousand times God bless you
all."
Again, in a pleasanter vein, to another
son :
"Houss of Commons.
"I take advantage of a dull speech to
come up stairs and chat a little with my dear
, though I heartily regret that I alone
can be the speaker, for I should gladly hear
my dear boy's voice, and see his countenance.
Yesterday was the first time of my going to
Kensington Gore. I had no comfort there,
but many qualms of emptiness, when you
were all away, and only vacant places to re-
mind me of you. I hope Mr. L. told you that
I had tried to get your watch mended in
time to go down to you by him, but in vain.
A broken limb is not so easily repaired, es-
pecially when it is required that the party
shall go as he did before. I am sorry to hear
that the substitute you have is liable to oc-
casional headaches. I hope you will bear
this in mind, in your treatment of it, and not
DOMESTIC JOYS. 227
let it be stunned or stupefied through care-
lessness/'
Again, to illustrate how little the collisions
of political life, the fierceness of debate, the
continued u strife of tongues/' had with him
power to harden the heart, or even to dim the
spiritual life, we have the following touching
incident, from the private memoranda of a
friend, who was at that time a frequent in-
mate of his family. At the close of a busy
day, perhaps after the stormy contests of the
House of Commons, "between twelve and
one o'clock he heard that his daughter, who
was ill, could get no sleep. Coming into her
room he took her hand, and kneeling down
by the bed, spoke of the tender shepherd car-
rying the weak and lame in his bosom to
warm and cherish them. Then he applied
this to our blessed Saviour ; spoke of his ten-
derness and love ; how he would feel for his
dear suffering child, and conduct her all the
way she had to go, until he took her from
this scene of trial and sorrow to a world
228 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
where sighing and sorrow shall flee away —
a beautiful personification, indicating their
haste to leave the mansions of the blessed !
In this spirit he prayed with her, and never
left the bed until her spirit was visibly
soothed and supported/'
Again, to a son aged thirteen :
" My Deakest :. —
" Though it is quite contrary to iny or-
dinary practice to write letters on a Sunday,
yet having been unable to prepare a few lines
for you yesterday, I feel myself warranted,
by our blessed Saviour's principles and exam-
ples, even, in the case of the Jewish Sabbath,
to take up my pen to-day, to meet my dear-
est boy on his birthday with the assurance
of his father's tenderest concern for his tem-
poral and still more for his eternal happiness.
On this day, especially, my prayers are poured
forth, that the gracious Father of the spirits
of all flesh, who has promised that he will
hear the prayers of them that call upon him.
DOMESTIC JOYS. 229
may hear my supplications on your behalf,
that as you have already enjoyed, and still
enjoy many advantages, which few others
possess, you may not at length render them
the cause only of your greater condemna-
tion.
"It makes me tremble, however, some-
times to reflect on the peculiar degree of your
responsibility. Yet why should I despond ?
I know that God will be faithful to his
promises ; that he will give his Holy Spirit
to them that ask it with sincerity and earn-
estness. And will not my dear boy thus
ask ? While Christ is thus thinking of you,
will not you think of him ? Between seven
and eight, especially, I shall imagine you in
your own little room ; and also between
twelve and one in the day. I shall retire
myself into my own room and pray earnestly
for you. Remember, my dear boy, that we
do not naturally love God and Christ, and
desire above all things to please them as we
ought ; but we must have this love and
20
230 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
desire before we can be admitted into Heaven.
My heart is very full. May God bless you ;
my dearest boy."
At another time, he writes :
"I have neither time nof eyesight to-day
sufficient to send you what, from its size,
may deserve the name of a letter : but a
letterling it may be called ; and you know
the old passage — Inest sua gratia parvis —
a maxim which, from my not being of
extravagantly large dimensions, I may be
supposed to consider a very reasonable prop-
osition. I am glad to find (and it is quite
a drop of balm in my heart when I hear
of my dear boy's going on well) that you
are setting to work doggedly, as Dr. John-
used to term it ; but I like neither the
word nor the idea. I hope my dear boy
will act from a higher principle than one
which I have seen in a poor animal in a
team, when the taje of the wagoner's whip
has made him resolutely set all his mus-
DOMESTIC JOYS. 231
cular force in action and pull up a steep as
if determined to master it. But my dear-
est will be prompted by a nobler set of
motives — by a desire of pleasing God and
showing gratitude to his Saviour, and not
grieving the Holy Spirit ; of giving pleasure
to a father and mother, who are watching
over his progress with tender solicitude."
For two sons away at school, papers were
prepared, with directions varying so as to be
suited to the ages and character of each.
We give entire the one addressed to the
younger :
" Hints for my dear , to be often read
over with self-examination :
" 1. Endeavor to bear in mind that you
will be often tempted to behave to your
brother not so well as you ought. That you
may be on your guard against such tempta-
tions,
"2. Kecollect, if you can, what are the
occasions which have most commonly led you
232 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
to behave ill to your brother, and try to keep
them in your memory by now and then
thinking them over ; and when such occa-
sions are about to occur, whether at play, in
reading, or wherever else, then be doubly on
your guard, and try to lift up your heart in
an ejaculation to God that you may be ena-
bled to resist the temptation ; and if you do
resist it, lift up your heart again in thanks-
giving.
"3. Eemember one season of temptation
will always be when you are at play, espe-
cially where there are sides, whether you are
on the same side as or not.
" 4. Eemember it is not sufficient not to be
unkind to your brother ; you must be posi-
tively kind to all, and how much more, then,
to a brother !
" 5. Eemember you will be under a tempt-
ation to resist unkindly 's disposition to
command you. If Christ tells us not to
resent little outrages from any one (see Matt.
v. 39-44), how much less should you resent
DOMESTIC JOYS. 233
his commanding you ! Though perhaps not
quite right in itself, yet an elder brother
has a right tu some influence from being
such.
"6. Often reflect that you are both chil-
dren of the same father and mother ; how
you have knelt together in prayer ; have
prayed together as children, and have sat
round the same table, on a Sunday, in peace
and love. Place the scene before your mind's
eye, and recollect how happy mamma and I
have been to see you all around us good and
happy.
" 7. You are not so lively by nature as he
is, but be willing always to oblige him by
playing at proper times, etc., though not
disposed, of yourself. Nothing more occurs to
me, except — and this both mamma and I
desire to press strongly upon you — to be on
your guard against being out of humor on a
little raillery, and always to laugh at it ;
nothing shows good-humor more than taking
a joke without being fretful or gloomy.
20*
234 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
" May God bless my dearest boy, and ena-
ble him to profit from the above suggestions
of his most affectionate father,
"W. WlLBERFORCE."
The older brother is cautioned in like man-
ner, according to his peculiar temptations : —
" I will specify the times and circumstances
in which you ought to be on your guard
against behaving improperly : When you
have done your own business, or are not
inclined to do it, beware of interrupting him
in doing his. When you are with older com-
panions than yourself, beware of treating him
less kindly, or with any thing like arrogance.
When you are in the highest spirits, having
been at play, or from any other cause, you
are apt to lose your self-government, and to
be out of humor on having your inclination
crossed in any way ; beware, in such circum-
stances, of being unkind to him."
When absent at school, every possible
influence must be brought to bear for their
DOMESTIC JOYS. 235
good. To Mrs. Wilberforce he writes : " I
beg you will write occasionally to and
; their,! sisters also should write to them
pretty frequently. I assure you, both from
my own experience and from that of others,
that at their period of life the frequent recur-
rence of home associations, and of sisterly
affection, has a peculiarly happy effect on the
character and manners. Can you send
your newspaper after reading it ; he has
repeatedly asked to have one, and I don't
like to send him an opposition paper/'
To a daughter he writes : " I trust that I
need not assure you that the letter I received
from you a few days ago gladdened my heart,
and that not with a transient joy, but with
solid and permanent satisfaction. It is now
your business, my dear child, to endeavor to
strengthen the foundation of all Christian
graces by learning more habitually to walk
by faith, and not by sight. Accustom your-
self to be spiritually-minded, which, as the
Apostle truly says, is life and peace. Fre-
236 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
quent self-examination is one of the means
which you will find eminently useful foi
this end. You would do well to practice it
in the middle of the day, as well as in the
morning and evening. A very few moments
will suffice for a general retrospect of the
past morning. I have often kept written on
a small slip of paper a note of my chief beset-
ting sins, against which it was especially
necessary that I should be habitually watch-
ing and guarding, or of the chief Christian
graces which I wished to cultivate, or of the
grand truths which I desired to bear in
remembrance ; and I used tc look over this
paper at my season for prayer or of self-
examination. My chief duties and relations
(such as father, brother, friend, acquaintance,
master) were down on this paper, and were
thus kept in constant view. But in using
this or any other expedient, you will, I am
sure, remember ever to be looking up for that
grace which can alone enable us to will or to
do what is well-pleasing to God.
DOMESTIC JOYS. 237
" While I rejoice that my dear is
employed so rationally, so usefully, in a man-
ner also so pleasing to God, and so happily
for herself, I cannot but look forward to the
time of our again meeting and living a little
quietly in the country, if it may please God,
with some earnestness of desire. But it is
right that we should abstain from all aerial
castle-building, and remember that not only
the time is short, but even uncertain. We
know not what a day may bring forth. Let
us therefore be doing on the day the duties
of the day, and then leave the future with
that gracious Being who has declared himself
faithful to his promises."
During an excursion in the summer of
1818, visiting Bydal and Grasmere, he de-
lighted to point out to his children the beau-
ties of the scenery, retracing the spots he had
loved in his earlier days.* "Why should
* During the journey in gs of this summer, the two sons of .
Mr. "Wilberforce, rambling in the vicinity of the residence
238 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
you not buy a house here/' asked one of the
children, "and then we could come here
every year ?" " I should enjoy it/' was his
answer, " as much as any one ; but we must
remember that we are not sent into the
world merely to enjoy prospects and scenery.
We have nobler objects of pursuit, We are
commanded to imitate Him who came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister. It
doubles my own enjoyment to see my dear
children enjoy these scenes with me ; and
now and then we need rest from severe la-
bors, and it may be permitted us to luxuriate
in such lovely spots, but it is fit for us to re-
turn to duty." Yet increasing years had by
no means damped the ardor of his enjoyment
of such scenes. He writes to Mr. Stephen :
" I quite long to have you with me/' — " Busy
of Mr. Southey, were desirous of visiting him. But they
were forbidden to do so by their father. The great poet
was at that time mourning the loss of a beloved and only
son. They must not call on him, ''lest seeing lads of your
age should too painfully remind him of the son he has
lost."
DOMESTIC JOYS. 239
till one. Then on Windermere. Dined in
the boat, under the lee of the great island.
Home late, a delightful evening. Walked
out at night and saw the moon and a flood
of licrht, from Wordworth's terrace/' The
youngest of the party could hardly have de-
lighted in these days more than himself,
while continually he spoke to them golden
words of wisdom, and shed around the sun-
shine of his own temper, mellowed by time,
but still joyous.
But where is there on earth a circle so
lovely or so blessed that sorrow may not
enter ? where the Spoiler ever turns back
from his purpose, or lingers hesitatingly
whether he shall throw his dart ? Two years
after this a heavy grief fell on them all, cast-
ing a solemn shadow over the glory of the
summer days.
The eldest daughter continued to decay in
health and strength. As the autumn waned
she passed awav, breathing her last at the
240 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE,
close of the year, at the house of Mr. Stephen,
where she had been carried for medical at-
tendance.
"I have been employed/' wrote the af-
flicted father to a friend, " for a long period
in attending the sick, and at length the
dying bed of a justly-beloved grown-up
daughter. But the pain of our late trial has
been abundantly mitigated by the assured
persuasions that she is gone to a better
world. It would have been delightful, even
to those who were not so personally interested
in the scene as ourselves, to have witnessed
the composure with which, in the prospect of
speedy dissolution, our dear child, naturally
of a very timid spirit^ was able to pray that
her parents might be supported under the
privation they were about to suffer. I shall
never forget the tenderness, faith, and love,
and devotion with which, having desired all
others to withdraw, she poured forth her last
audible prayer for herself and us. Sustained
by an humble hope of the mercies of God
DOMESTIC JOYS. 241
through her Eedeemer and Intercessor, she
was enabled to bear her sufferings with pa-
tience and ,i resignation, and to preserve a
composure which surprised even herself. On
the very morning of the last day of her life,
she had desired a favorite female attendant
to ask her physician, whether or not there
was any hope of her recovery, c but if not/
she added, 'all is well/ She expired at last
like a person falling asleep — scarcely a groan,
and not the least struggle."
To Mr. Babington he opens, with still more
of freedom, the feelings called up by this
event : u There was none of that exultation
and holy joy which are sometimes manifested
by dying Christians. But I know not that
my judgment does not rest with more solid
confidence on her humble composure and
consciousness of her own unworthiness, with
an affectionate casting of herself on her Ee-
deemer and Intercessor. The day before she
expired, she sent all out but her mother and
me, and concluded some declarations of her
21
242 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
humble hope in the mercies of God through
Christ, with a beautiful prayer addressed to
her Saviour. And she had remarked to her
mother that she had never before understood
the meaning and value of Christ's interces-
sion. My dear friend, I must stop — you are
a father/' And with this family scene,
mournful, yet reflecting heavenly radiance,
we close these details.
XVI
In the autumn of 1812, a dissolution of
Parliament being expected, Mr. Wilberforce
was again called upon to consider the ques-
tion of continuing to represent the county of
Yorkshire. There was not now, as there had
been five years before, an opposition. Other
causes prompted his decision. Some of his
most strongly attached friends, observant of
the effect of labors so arduous and long-
continued upon a delicate frame of body, were
desirous of his release. He himself says :
" The urgent claims of my children upon
my thoughts, time, and superintendence,
strongly enforce my relinquishment. Lord,
give me wisdom to guide me rightly. I mean
to spend a day in religious exercises, and to
244 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
make this with my children the great objects
with God."
It was not, however, a complete retire-
ment that was anticipated. The influence
of a near friend, Lord Calthorp, had secured
for Mr. Wilberforce a seat in the House,
where his constant attendance would be less
necessary, and his weight of labor removed.
He was returned for the borough of Bramber.
His resignation was speedily known, and
produced various feelings. The Yorkshire
men felt as a loss the retirement of their dis-
tinguished and " efficient member." " The
county at large, on the day of nomination,
recorded solemnly their judgment of his char-
acter in an enthusiastic vote of their unani-
mous thanks." His native town of Hull did
the same. His nearest friends, however, re-
joiced in his release.
In the following, he reviews his long and
singular connection with the county : —
" Surely if I can not but look back upon
the circumstances which attended the first
REPRESENTS BRAMBER. 245
formation of my connection with the county
of York, without recognizing the traces of
providential guidance, neither can I forbear
to acknowledge the same gracious favor, in
my having so long continued in my honorable
station. May I not well wonder that in a
county accustomed to so much attention from
its members, so much that was likely to give
offense should be endured in me, without the
slightest expression of disapprobation. My
religious character and habits might alone be
expected to produce disgust. My never at-
tending the county races or even the assizes ;
my never cultivating the personal acquaint-
ance of the nobility and gentry, (an omission
which would have been culpable, but for the
expenditure it would have occasioned of time,
which I wanted for important purposes,) my
seldom visiting the county, sometimes not
going into it for several years together, all
these might fairly have been expected to
have alienated from me the good will of the
freeholders ; yet it never produced this effect,
21*
246 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
and I have every reason to "believe that I
never should have experienced another oppo-
sition."
Upon his return to London, he set apart a
day for especial private devotions. " I have
had serious doubts whether or not it is right
to do so, when I have so many important
subjects to consider and so much to do, yet
the examples as well as the writings of good
men, and above all the Holy Scriptures (tak-
ing the precepts which directly treat of
fasting, and comparing them with others)
warrant it. N. B. Christ's words about the
demons, which were expelled only by fasting
and prayer. Then as to my being now ex-
tremely occupied. Owen's remark in some
degree applies (inference from Malachi) that
we should give G-od if needful our best time.
Lord, thy blessing can render far more
than a day's time as nothing in my worldly
business, and if the main-spring's force be
strengthened, and its working improved,
CHRISTIANIZATION OF INDIA. 247
(cleansed from dust and foulness,) surely the
machine will go better.
" Let me li)ok over my c grounds for humil-
iation/ my i company regulations/ How
sadly apt am I to lose all recollection of
these, and of keeping my heart when I am in
society ! Lord, strengthen me with might.
Let Christ dwell, not merely occasionally
visit, but dwell in my heart by faith. Let
me cultivate more an habitual love to God."
Questions of such importance were now
engaging the attention of the House of Com-
mons, that as yet he found little relief from
the resignation of his former seat. The sub-
ject of Catholic emancipation was agitating
the public mind, and on expressing himself
in favor of that measure, he grieves much
that in this he differs from his religious
friends.
In 1813 the great question with regard to
the introduction of Christianity into the East
Indies, discussed and thrown out in 1793,
was again brought forward. To advocate the
248 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
claims of conquered India to the gospel was
now the great work to which Mr. Wilberforce
applied himself. He endeavored to arouse
the religious sensibilities of the National
Church to this great and most appropriate
work. This was urged in the columns of the
Christian Observer, where the clergymen of
the Establishment were especially called upon
to give their influence to this work. Since
the carrying of the abolition bill, no more
absorbing or exciting subject had gained his
attention. These eiforts were now tending
to a crisis. " Surely," he wrote to a friend,
"there can be no doubt that all who are
zealous in the cause of Christ, will do their
utmost to enlighten our East India fellow-
subjects."
Hitherto the control of the British pos-
sessions in this matter, as in others, had been
in the hands of the directors of the East
India Company, and to improve the charac-
ter of the natives, by causing them to be in-
structed in the Christian religion, had by no
CHRISTIANIZATION OF INDIA. 249
means been regarded as a duty. It was even
asserted that the attempt to Christianize the
Hindoos would be fatal to the British rule in
the vast empire of the East. To a scanty-
provision for the English residents, the Com-
pany might consent, but to one that should
embrace, or by its influence encourage mis-
sionary efforts, never. The directors, making
known unequivocally their line of conduct,
the question at issue became a simple one.
Shall this power be accorded them for the
next twenty years as for the last ? How
this might turn was most uncertain, for
while the Anglo-Indians contended stoutly
that a change would be most unsafe, so un-
tried was the measure advocated by the re-
ligious party, that to prove its safety and de-
sirableness was difficult.
To many of his country correspondents Mr.
Wilberforce sent letters, urging that petitions
might be presented. "We have/' he says,
" exclaimed loudly agakist the proposed
system of barring out all moral and religious
250 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
light from the East Indies, and declared that
we were confident the friends of religion,
morality and humanity, throughout the king-
dom, would petition on the subject. Now
you, I trust, will make good our words. You
petitioned in the case of the slave-trade, and
those petitions were eminently useful, so they
would be now/'
Again he writes : " On the thirteenth,
early in the city, at the general meeting of
the Church Missionary Society for Africa and
the East. Made the report of our deputa-
tion, and agreed to a petition to both Houses
for introducing Christianity into India."
At this time, from his peculiar position
and the confidence inspired by his religious
character and accessible way of life, he became
as a bond of union among Christians of dif-
ferent views, in communication at once with
bishops of the national Church and dissenters
of various names. The religious sense of the
people was aroused. Petitions began to pour
in from all quarters. The Methodists, as a
CHRISTIANIZATION OF INDIA. 251
body, were zealous in the work. The London
Missionary Society, the principle of the form-
ation of which sought to unite in one the
efforts of all Christians, was in vigorous exer-
cise. The Baptists, having so early solved
for themselves the practicability of missions
in the East Indies, could not be backward in
lending their support in every possible way.
Carey and his associates had now been nearly
twenty years on the ground. Their labors
and their successes witnessed in favor of this
great cause. They had won, too, the favor
of the Governor- General of India. But re-
spect for the learning and character of an
individual missionary, however valuable in
the infancy of Christian efforts, in India was
no pledge for their extension.
Laid aside temporarily by illness, Mr. Wil-
berforce writes : " How does this little check
of sickness impress upon me the duty of
working while it is day : the night cometh,
when no man can work ! Let me not take
an estimate of myself from others, who do not
252 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
know me, but from my own self-knowledge
and conscience. 0, Lord, let my faith, and
love be more active, bringing forth more of
the fruits of the Spirit/'
Thus he resumed his work. In the great
contest of the abolition of the slave-trade he
had powerful helpers. Men of giant mental
stature and vast political power labored by
his side. Now the case was otherwise. His
only resource, comparatively, is in the relig-
ious conscience of the people. This must be
brought skillfully to bear upon the work in
hand. The appeal had not been made in
vain, and the heads of government entered
into an arrangement, he says, far u surpassing
my expectations/' On the following Sunday
he writes : u Let me express my humiliation
and my gratitude to God for enabling us to
agree with government as to the conditions
of sending out missionaries, and in general as
to improving, moralizing and Christianizing
India. I humbly hope God has great designs
CHKISTIANIZATION OF INDIA. 253
in view for the East, and that they will be
executed by Great Britain/'
Brit the conflict was not yet over. These
arrangements of government, Parliament
might reject, and moreover "in the House
of Commons lay the strength of the Anglo-
Indian party." On the twenty-second of
June, says the biographer of Wilberforce,
" he was at his post, with his mind full of his
subject. Never did he speak with greater
power, or produce more impression. Twenty
years before, he had appeared in the same
place the eloquent advocate of this same
cause. He had, beyond all expectation, been
spared to lead the onset in a new engage-
ment." " He who knows my heart/' he said ?
in closing his account of the Hindoo supersti-
tions, " knows that I have not drawn this
melancholy picture to exult over its black-
ness. It is with grief and shame I own it,
mourning, sir, over my own country, which,
for fifty years and more, has left so many
millions of our fellow-creatures in this state
22
254 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
of misery and vice. I am not bringing a bill
of indictment against the Indian race ; but I
have lived long enough to learn ' that flatter-
ers are not friends/ I am willing to allow
their present degradation, that I may raise
them to a higher level.
" "We carried it," he adds, " about eighty-
nine to thirty-six — beyond all hope. I heard
afterward that many good men had been
praying for us all night. ! what cause for
thankfulness, yet almost intoxicated with suc-
cess."
The petitions that " loaded the table," to
the number of nine hundred, could not but
produce an impression.
Full justice was done in this noble and
most effective burst of eloquence to the mis-
sionaries earliest in the field. They had been
called " Anabaptists and fanatics," and rail-
lery had exhausted itself in endeavoring to
cast ridicule upon the cobbler of Nottingham-
shire. The vindication of Wilberforce was
complete, and clothed upon with the living
CHRISTIANIZATION OF INDIA. 255
graces of his own genius. " I do not know,"
he said, " a finer instance of the moral sub-
lime than that a poor cobbler, working in his
stall, should conceive the idea of converting
the Hindoos to Christianity. Yet such was
Dr. Carey. Milton's planning his Paradise
Lost in his old age and blindness was nothing
to it."
There were those before him, the orator of
the day well knew, who had no eyes for the
sublimity of this view ; and for them he had
reserved another argument. Coldly they lis-
tened to the tale of the Christ-like love that
dwelt in the heart of the poor man — what
shall move th<exn ? The fact is uttered that
when arrived in India and appointed by Lord
Wellesly to an honorable station, with a sal-
ary of more than a thousand pounds, Dr.
Carey made this all over to the general
objects of the mission. They are electrified !
" It seemed the only thing that moved
them," said the indignant pleader for India.
Among those who aided in furnishing facts
256 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
concerning the Serampore Mission, before all
others, was the Rev. Andrew Fuller.
It. may not be known to the admirers of
this remarkable man and devoted Christian
minister, that on the occasion of this debate
he but narrowly escaped a challenge to fight.
Dr. Carey had been ferociously attacked by a
member of the House of Commons. Mr.
Fuller had interposed in writing. With a
manner which could not be mistaken, the no-
torious duelist inquired, " Pray, Mr. Wilber-
force, do you know a Mr. Andrew Fuller, who
has written to me to retract the statement
which I made with reference to Dr. Carey ?-*■
u Yes, I know him perfectly/' replied Wil-
berforce, to whose quick sense of the ludicrous
the wasted wrath of the other could not fail
fail to appeal ; adding, with a smile, " You
can do nothing with him in your way : he is
a respectable Baptist minister at Kettering/'
" In due time/' he adds, "there came from
India a:i authoritative contradiction of the
slander, For two whole years did I take it
CHKISTIANIZATION OF INDIA. 257
in my pocket to the House of Commons to
read it to the House when the author of the
accusation should be present/'
This opportunity it seems never occurred,
for the intended antagonist of Mr. Fuller
absented himself from the occasion and the
place.
When we recall the difficulties of the first
missionaries to India, the uncertain tenure
by which they held the right to preach the
Gospel to the natives, or even to remain in
the country, we can not . but attach a high
value to the labors here recorded. The
changed action of the East India government
need not be dwelt upon in this work. But
even the American missionary of the present
day, as he hails the protection of the British
flag, and walks in peace beneath its shadow,
may look back gratefully to the struggle of
that early period to open the way for the
entrance of the Gospel to the vast realms of
the East,
22*
XVII
# f t « t C ft &n g * s .
Since tlie triumphant passage of the Aboli-
tion Bill, in 1807, which made the slave-
trade a crime in the eye of British law, Mr.
Wilherforce had turned his attention to the
Continental powers of Europe. To induce
them, in this matter, to cooperate with Eng-
land, and thus render abolition universal, was
the object of his efforts. While the subject
was yet in agitation, before the actual pas-
sage of the bill, when success appeared to
be in view, the subject of a negotiation with
foreign powers was brought forward. An
address to the king, praying him to invite the
cooperation of the sovereigns of Europe, was
voted by the House of Commons.
Mr. Wilberforce, in a letter addressed to
THE TREATY OF PARIS. 259
the Emperor of Kussia, forcibly presented
this subject.
J
In the memorable year 1814, when Bona-
parte abdicated his dominions, and peace was
restored to Europe, it was matter of much
disappointment to the friends of the slave,
that in the treaty of peace, universal abol-
ition had not been secured. In the loud
congratulations that greeted Lord Castle-
reagh on his entrance into the House of
Commons, bearing in his hand a copy of the
treaty just concluded at Paris, Mr. Wilber-
force was silent. Seizing the first favorable
moment — "I can assure my noble friend/'
he exclaimed, " that if I have not been able
to concur in the salutations with which he
has been welcomed on his return, it is not
from any want of personal cordiality/' After
calling the attention of the House to the
slave trade among the French and Dutch
people, he continued : " When I consider the
miseries that we are now about to renew, is
260 WILLIAM WILBEEF05CE.
it possible to regard them without the deep-
est emotions of sorrow ? My noble friend
must allow for my extreme regret, if, when
at length, after a contest of so many years, I
had seemed to myself in possession of the
great object of my life — if then, when the cup
is at my lips, it is rudely dashed from them,
for a term of years at least, if not forever."
The number of distinguished foreigners,
who during this year visited London, was re-
markable. Among these was the Emperor
of Eussia. Mr. Wilberforce was informed
that an interview was desired, and shortly
afterward received a summons to that effect.
He writes in his Journal : " Got up by half
past six, that I might pray for a blessing
upon the interview." He had previously
heard that Alexander had charged himself
with abolition in a Congress of Nations. This
interview was followed by others. "What
could be done," said the Emperor, with regard
to the treaty of peace, " when your own em*
bassador gave way ?"
NEW EFFORTS. 261
Of the results of the favor expressed by the
Emperor, hopes were entertained by Mr.
Wilberforce and others in behalf of the great
cause. Having already, through Cardinal
G-onsalvi, attempted to influence the councils
of Kome, he next addressed letters to the
literati of Europe. Humboldt, Sisniondi,
Chateaubriand, and Madame de Stael were
addressed. ' With the last named of these
celebrated persons he had become acquainted
some time before in London. His chief effort
was, however, a printed letter to Talleyrand,
which was to contain the whole matter in a
small compass, and was regarded as a mani-
festo of the sentiments of the friends of uni-
versal abolition. The sage of the French
court replied, at first, with elegant and cour-
teous sentiments expressed at large ; after-
ward, in a brief letter with more decided
favor. Much was hoped by the friends of the
cause from these widely-spread influences.
" I almost anticipate/' wrote one, " more
good from these new efforts of our friends^
262 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
than even from the abolition voted here ; and
the name of Wilberforce has attained new
celebrity, and his character and general opin-
ions a degree of weight, which perhaps no pri-
vate individual, not invested with office, ever
possessed. My delight has consisted much in
observing his Christian simplicity, and the
general uniformity in his character and con-
duct, amid the multitude of compliments
from the great, made on the part of some
with much feeling. He is, indeed, in his
usual bustle, but he reminds me, neverthe-
less, of that saying which was applied to Fox,
that the greatest objects or the most heavy
load of business, never seemed to put him
into that petty tumult which is the common
mark of inferior men/''
Notwithstanding this state of encouraged
hope, the work proceeded slowly. A letter
written to Mr. Wilberforce by Mr. Brougham
at this time, touches upon the matter.
u Ton may easily believe/'' he says, " that
I have thought of nothing but the treaty for
brougham's letter. 263
two days past, and have each moment found
out new cause for vexation and indignation,
A fine return truly, and a pure sense of the
benefits they have received, those base Bour-
bons are evincing !
"As for Alexander and the other allies,
they may cheaply enough be abolitionists,
having not one nesro — as I doubt not the
Bourbons are all for abolishing villenage.
This liberality at other people's expense is, I
believe, the whole amount of the magna-
nimity we hear so much of. However, we
must try such means rather than despair ;
and we ought to think betimes how to set
about it. But in truth one is disheartened
and sick of men, and above all of rulers/'
These vexing negotiations were closed in a
manner little expected. What the restored
Bourbon had failed to accomplish, was done
by another and stronger hand. From the
retirement of Elba, an eagle eye watched the
movements of the sovereigns, and the po-
264 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
sition of England, on this question. Bona-
parte, upon his escape and brief restoration
to power ; among other acts of a popular kind,
decreed the abolition of slavery in the French
dominions. Nor when he fell was this al-
lowed to be repealed.
Great as had been the work accomplished
by the British Parliament, the friends of the
African could not conceal from themselves,
that all that had been expected was not yet
attained. Particularly was this true with re-
gard to the condition of those already in
bondage. The improvement that would en-
sue from cutting off the supplies, had not
appeared. Those supplies, in fact, continued.
The slave ship, despite the law, still cast its
shadow in the Indian seas. To meet the
demands of the occasion, the " Bill for the
Kegistry of Negroes " was, by Mr. Wilberforce,
brought into Parliament. This movement
was the first restraint laid upon the exercise
of irresponsible power in the hands of the
West Indian master. Mild as it appeared, it
PATIENT ENDURANCE. 265
was the first of a series of efforts which finally
resulted in emancipation. The friends of this
measure had; taken a larger stride in the work
before them than they were themselves fully
aware. A storm of opposition was aroused.
Perhaps never in his whole life before had Mr.
Wilberforce been the object of such a tumult
of calumny. These attacks upon his charac-
ter were both violent and long continued.
That he could never be aroused to bitterness
of feeling, is to be attributed to no lack of
aggravated ill-will on the part of his enemies.
It is to be sought elsewhere. At times he
expressed his fears lest they "occupy the
public mind, and so prejudice the great
cause/' On one occasion he regrets that he
had not answered an accuser in print. With
a touch of pleasantry, at another time, he told
the House of Commons, " that if these things
were true, he ought to have been hanged
thirty years ago." Again he says, "I get
more and more to disrelish these brawlings,
and to be less touchy as to my character,
23
266 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
This I fear is chieily from advancing years
and quiescence ; something from the decay of
natural spirits, and some little I hope from
the growing indifference to human estima-
tion, and from an increased value for peace
and love. But it is a clear duty to prevent
our good from being evil spoken of, when we
can do this by a fair and calm defense/'
It was, however, a striking testimony to
the purity of his life, and the high principles
by which he was habitually governed, that,
on one occasion was awarded him. When
the sarcasm of an opponent was uttered on
"the honorable and the religious member,"
the feeling expressed was as though some-
thing sacred had been invaded. Cries of
" order" resounded from every part of the
House. For thirty years had his endeavor
been to act, in his position, upon Christian
principles, and this sudden and impulsive tri-
bute showed the degree of estimation in
which he was held.
TLe year 1815 was marked by the death
DEATH OF FRIENDS. 267
of Henry Thornton. Of him Mr. Wilberforce
remarked, "he was one of my oldest, kindest,
most intimate, and valuable friends. To me,
who used to consult him on all public ques-
tions, and who profited so often from the ex-
traordinary superiority of his understanding,
the loss is almost irreparable. But it is the
will of the Almighty, and it becomes us to
submit. It is the ordination of infinite wis-
dom and goodness, and it becomes us to say,
c Thy will be done/ **
A week only had passed, when he records,
in a letter to Hannah More, the death of an-
other — one of her friends as well as his —
whom he speaks of as only less dear (than
Thornton) ; as of more recent acquisition ;
one from whom, from the developments <j£
genius and piety which he had made, much
was expected — John Bowdler.
It was now a time of great discontent and
" sad rioting" among the people. Excite-
ment was high, for the question of the Corn
Laws was before the House. Mr. Wilber-
268 WILLIAM WILBERFOKCE.
force, in making up liis mind to speak on
the subject, remarks in his Journal, " I see
people wonder I do not speak one way or the
other. It will be said, he professes to trust
in God's protection, but he would not venture
any thing. Then I shall have religious
questions and moral questions, to which my
speaking will conciliate, and, contra, my si-
lence strongly indispose men. Besides, it is
only fair to the government, when I really
think them right to say so, as an independ-
ent man, not liable to the imputation of
party bias, corrupt agreement with landed
interest, &c. ; so I prepared this morning,
and spoke, and though I lost my notes, and
forgot much I meant to say, I gave satisfac-
tion."
A person formerly in his employ was hoot-
ed after, the next morning, in Co vent Gar-
den market. a So your old master has spoken
on the Corn Bill ! His house shall pay for
it!" Mrs. Wilberforce having been advised
to remove from the premises, four or five sol-
A CURIOUS COINCIDENCE. 269
diers were placed there, that their presence
might prevent the approach of violence.
Some weejks after this, he joined his family
at the village of Taplow, and spent a Sab-
bath. It was now the 18th of June, and the
country in the full bloom of summer. The
quiet beauty of the scene filled his heart with
joy. " He seemed to shake off with delight
the dust and bustle of the crowded city, and
as he walked up the rising street of the vil-
lage, on his way to the old church of Tap-
low, he called on all around him to rejoice in
the visible goodness of his God ; and ' per-
haps/ he said to his children, 6 at this very
moment, when we are walking thus in peace
to the house of God, our brave fellows may
be fighting hard in Belgium/ "
On that very Sunday was fought the battle
of Waterloo ! This he learned on his return
to London.
Mr. Wilberforce had experienced this yeai
sad bereavements^ in the removal of deai
23*
270 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
friends ; but a nearer affliction awaited him
— the death of his only sister, Mrs. Stephen.
To the intimate and peculiar sympathy be-
tween these two, we have referred in the
earlier pages of this volume. He alludes
often to the tenderness of her affection for
him. This was blended with the deepest ad-
miration of his character and public labors.
Her own religious life had been quickened by
the influence of his piety, and fostered, in its
earlier stages, by his loving care. At times a
peculiar tenderness and scrupulousness of
spirit, joined to delicate health, had made her
an object of solicitude, and we find him, in
the earlier periods of his life, devoting to her
his time and attentions. Her death was an
unexpected blow. He had left her only a
few weeks before, and rejoiced "to see her
better than she had been for a long time
past." With a heavy heart he set off for the
residence of his brother-in-law.
" On arriving, I learned that my sister had
died yesterday at four o'clock. Poor Stephen
DEATH OF HIS SISTER. 271
much affected ! Liable to strong paroxysms,
at other times calm and pretty cheerful. I
prayed by nly dear sister's body, and with the
face uncovered. Its fixedness very awful. I
sat all the evening engaging Stephen, while
the coffin was adjusting below. How affect-
ing all these things ! how little does the im-
mortal spirit regard it ! Looking at night, till
near two o'clock this morning, over my dear
sister's letters — many to and from myself,
when she and I were first earnest in religion."
" Our separation from each other just at
this time," he writes to a friend, " if it pro-
duces some pain, yet reminds us of the call
we have for gratitude to the Father of mer-
cies, who has so long spared us to each other.
How can I but feel this, when our dear
friend's solitary situation is so forcibly im-
pressed on me ! I, indeed, have lost a most
affectionate sister ; one, of whom I can truly
say, that I believe there never was on earth a
more truly attached, generous, and faithful
friend to a brother, who, though I hope not
272 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
insensible to her value, saw but little of her
to maintain her affection, and of whom, alas !
I could say much that might reasonably have
abated the force and cooled the warmth of
her affections/'
" How affecting is it to leave the person we
have known all our lives, on whom we should
have been afraid to let the wind blow too
roughly, to leave her in the cold ground
alone ! This quite strikes my imagination on
such occasions. But there is another thin^
that has impressed itself in the present in-
stance much more powerfully than in any
other I ever remember. I mean, in contem-
plating the face of our dead friend, to ob-
serve the fixed immoveableness of the fea-
tures. Perhaps it struck me more in my sis-
ter's case, because her countenance owed more
of the effect it produced to the play of features
than to their formation. I could not get rid
of the effect produced on me, by the stiff and
cold fixedness, for a long time. But ! it is
the spirit, tbi inhabitant of the earthly tene-
THOUGHTS ON DEATH. 273
ment, not the tenement itself, which was the
real object of our affection. How unspeak-
ably valuable are the Christian doctrines and
hopes in such circumstances as ours ! We
should not care much, if we believed that the
object of our tender regard had gone a few
days before us a journey we ourselves should
travel ; especially if we knew that the jour-
ney's end was to be a lasting abode of perfect
happiness. Now, blessed be God, this is after
all not an illustration. It is the reality.
The only drawback with me here, is that I
have much to do for God, and the self-re-
proach for not having done it."
We must suppose here that what he had
actually been permitted to do, in serving his
generation, looked little by reason of the con-
trasted largeness of desire which filled his
heart. It certainly was not by comparing his
own services with those of others that this
sense of deficiency was awakened ; for where
could he find one whose works of usefulness
so abounded as his own ?
274 WILLIAM W1LBERF0RCE.
Ill general, however, at this period of lis
life he gives vent to his emotions in words of
thankful praise. He seems to have entered
upon that phase of the Christian life which is
marked by a holy, all-predominating love.
Here was the secret of the harmlessness of
those shafts of calumny that fell so thickly
around his way. " All natural objects round
him/' says his biographer, " had become the
symbols of the presence and love of his heav-
enly Father/'
" I was walking with him in his verandah,"
says a friend, " the year before, watching for
the opening of a night-blowing cereus. As
we stood in eager expectation, it suddenly
burst wide open before us. c It reminds me/
said he, as we admired its beauty, 'of the
dispensations of the divine Providence first
breaking on the glorified eye, when they shall
fully unfold to the view, and appear as beau-
tiful as they are complete/ "
"For myself/' he says, when to his own
family he unvailed his heart, "I can truly
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 275
say that scarcely any thing has at times given
me more pleasure th&n the consciousness of
living, as it were, in an atmosphere of love ;
and heaven has itself appeared delightful in
that very character of being a place in which
not only every one would love his brethren,
but in which every one would be assured that
his brother loved him ; and thus that all was
mutual kindness and harmony, without one
discordant jarring : all sweetness, without the
slightest acescency."
The following paragraph, which we quote
from the pen of his biographer, beautifully
illustrates his habits and character at this
time. Eeferring to the extract just made,
he says : " There was no obtrusive display of
these affections. True Christian joy is for the
most part a secret as well as a serene thing.
The full depth of his feelings was hidden even
from his own family. c I am never affected to
tears/ he says, more than once, ' except when
I am alone/ A stranger might have noticed
little else than that he w r as more uniformly
276 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
cheerful than most men of his time of life.
Closer observation showed a vein of Christian
feeling mingling with and purifying the natu-
ral flow of a most happy temper ; while those
who lived most continually with him could
trace distinctly in his tempered sorrows, and
sustained and almost child-like gladness of
heart, the continual presence of that c peace
which the world can neither give nor take
away/ The pages of his later Journal are full
of hursts of joy and thankfulness ; and with
his children and his chosen friends, his full
heart welled out ever in the same blessed
strains ; he seemed too happy not to express
his happiness ; his c song was ever of the lov-
ing-kindness of the Lord/ "
The following illustration of this same
spirit of overflowing love is furnished by a
friend who accompanied him into the coun-
try : A large number of friends were gathered
in a festive scene — a school fete. " He/' pro-
ceeds the memorandum, u was all sunshine at
such times, from principle as well as habit
A VISIT OF LOVE. 277
( It is/ he would say, I a fault to be silent ;
every one is bound to present his contribution
to the conjmon stock of conversation and
enjoyment / and wherever the group was
most crowded and attentive, he was sure to
be found its center. From all this he stole
away/' proceeds the same narrator, "and
asked me to walk with him down the village.
It was to visit a poor woman, of whom he had
heard as in a deep decline. He found out the
sick-room, and sat down by the bed, and be-
gan to speak to her of the love of God, which
should dwell in his children's hearts. *Ask
yourself, then, Do you love Him ? "We know
how love to our fellow-creatures acts : how it
makes us try to please them, bear for their
sakes unpleasant or unkind things, pain or
hard words, with patience ; now does your
love to God act in this way ? Do you bear
patiently what he sends you, because he sends
it ? It is no proof of love to God to do what
pleases us : to come, for instance, as I have
done to-day, to see all those dear children in
24
278 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
the company of those I love. But if yon sub-
mit to your illness, and give up your will to
God's will ; if you will seek to listen to His
voice in affliction ; if you are patient under
your sufferings, and gentle to those about
you, this will indeed be a proof of love to
God. And then think of the happy conse-
quence.. He will come and abide with you,
and bring such peace and joy into your heart
as nothing else can bestow. The Comforter
will come and dwell with you, not pay you a
short visit, as I am paying to my friends here,
but dwell with you, and never leave you.
Now this is the joy I wish for you/ And
then he knelt down and asked of God to com-
fort and support her, and after all her suffer-
ings bring her to a world of peace and joy,
where the former things shall have passed away.
c It is delightful/ said he, as we returned, c to
visit such a bed of sickness, to be able to take
one ray of joy from the full sunshine of the
social circle to gill her sick-room. It has
been one of the happiest days I ever spent/ "
XYIII.
€\ti$tB$\t tti fRfitK
" I have often wished/' wrote Mr. Wilber-
force to one of his sons, toward the close of
his life, " to do a little justice to poor Chris-
tophe. I possess letters from him which
would do him great honor. Perhaps they
may form a chapter, if any memoranda of my
own life and times are ever put together/'
Possibly some one may inquire, " And who
was Christophe ?" x He was no other than the
King of Hayti, enjoying at that time the
exercise of royal power over the inhabitants
of that beautiful island of the tropic seas.
He is declared by Mr. Wilberforce to have
been truly " a great man/' In the eventful
history of St. Domingo, his name has a
share. Christophe was born a slave. Eaised
280 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
by the force of liis own genius, aided by con-
curring events, to absolute power, lie was
desirous of using that power to promote
the highest good of the people. In accom-
plishing this work he sought the aid and
advice of the English advocate for African
freedom. The correspondence that ensued
was lengthened, and of singular interest. To
change the habits of the people, to enlighten
them by means of schools and colleges, and
the introduction of English literature, and
finally of the English language and religion,
were the favorite projects of the monarch.
For these purposes he not only requested direc-
tion, but remitted considerable sums of money.
He wished to change the character of the
people, declaring, in forcible language, of the
French habits and prevalent customs, that
" the Haytians must have nothing in common
with a nation from whom they had suffered
so much/'
" He has requested me," wrote Wilberforce
to his friend Stephen, u to get for him seven
CHRISTOPHE OF HAYTI. 281
schoolmasters, a tutor for his son, and seven
different professors for a royal college which
he intends' to found. Among these are a
classical professor, a medical, a mathematical,
and a pharmaceutical chemist."
Mr. Wilberforce entered warmly into these
views, " How I wish," he wrote to Mr. Mac-
aulay, " that I were not too old, and you not
too busy to go. It would he a noble under-
taking, to be sowing in such a soil the seeds
of Christian and moral improvement, and to
be laying also the foundation of all kinds of
social and domestic institutions, habits and
manners." " It produces quite a youthful
glow through my whole frame," he writes to
another, a to witness before I die, in this, and
so many other instances, the streaks of moral
and religious light illuminating the horizon,
and, though now but the dawning of the day,
cheering us with hopes of their meridian glo-
ries."
These feelings were warmly shared. " Were
I five-and-twenty," Sir Joseph Banks wrote
24*
282 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
to hirn, asking him for Haytian information,
a as I was when I embarked with Captain
Cook, I am very sure that I should not lose a
day in embarking for Hayti. To see a set of
human beings emerging from slavery, and
making most rapid strides toward the per-
fection of civilization, must, I think, be the
most delightful of all food for contempla-
tion."
But to find the right persons for Hayti
was not an easy thing. It was no light ser-
vice that had been undertaken. " I have
succeeded," he writes, " in finding a physi-
cian, but I still want a surgeon, and much
more a divine. What would I give for a
clergyman, who should be just such as I
could approve."
The attention of Christophe had been call-
ed, in the course of the correspondence, to
the education of the women of Hayti. Their
elevation and refinement would be urged by
Mr. Wilberforce, next to Christianity, the
most powerful means of improving the peo-
CHRISTOPHE OF HAYTI. 283
pie. With these views Christophe heartily
concurred, and teachers were provided for
this end. That persons for these various
offices were chosen with the greatest care, we
have reason to believe. A shrewd observer
of character, Mr. Wilberforce at one time
records his receiving at his house the volun-
teers for Hayti, not merely for a transient in-
terview, but that u they might stay with me
a few days, and enable me the better to take
their dimensions."
Notwithstanding all the caution that could
be used in selecting these, for the various de-
partments of labor, some proved unworthy
and others unsuitable. Some were unequal
to the trial of sustaining a proper character
in a community so degraded, that vice was
no way disgraceful ; and others of better
principles, by their desponding letters in-
creased the burden of care. These seem,
however, to have been regarded as by no
means affording ground for discouragement.
The hopeful spirit of Wilberforce still perse-
284 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
vered strongly in the work of enlightening
the subjects of Hayti.
The secret spring of these labors, and in-
deed of his abolition efforts also, may be
found in a letter to Mr. Stephen, written
some years before, under a different aspect of
affairs, but not on that account losing its
value. " I greatly fear/' he writes. " that if
Hayti gives to France a colonial monopoly,
in return for the recognition of its independ-
ence, that all commerce with us will be ex-
cluded, and with it our best hopes of intro-
ducing true religion into the island. Now, I
will frankly own to you, that to introduce re-
ligion appears to me the greatest of all bene-
fits. I blame myself for not having earlier
stated to you my principles on this head. It
has arisen from a want of reflection, for my
principles have been always the same. God
grant we may not hinder the gospel of Christ.
! remember that the salvation of one soul
is of more worth than the mere temporal
happiness of thousands, or even millions. In
CHEISTOPHE OF HATTI. 285
this I well know that you agree with me en-
tirely."
"I am occupied, I trust/' he says at an-
other time, " in preparing an entrance into
Africa for the Gospel of Christ. I must say
that I account it one of the greatest of the
many and great mercies and favors of the
Almighty (oh how many and how great !)
that his Providence connected me with this
good cause."
We return now to Haytian affairs. After
what has been stated of these labors, it is not
strange to find entries in his diary like this :
" I have been excessively busy of late, and in
the line of duty. But my devotional time
has been too much broken in upon ; and this
must not be. Much harassed by applications
for recommendations to Hayti, by people from
whom I know nothing." The machinery of
these movements had become complicated,
and persons were to be chosen for all grades
of labor and from all ranks of life, from pro-
286 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
fessors for the royal college, tutors and gov-
ernesses for the royal household, to "two
ploughmen and their ploughs and families."
A sudden stop was put to all these labors
by the death of Christophe. He alone had
set these plans for improvement on foot, and
with him they fell to the ground. "I can
not mention Hayti," writes Mr. Wilberforce,
who was much distressed at the event,
" without interposing a word concerning this
same tyrant, as, now that he is fallen, it is
the fashion to call Christophe. If he did de-
serve that name, then it is compatible with
the warmest desire in a sovereign for the im-
provement and happiness of his people ; and
I must also add, that all the authentic ac-
counts I ever heard of him have led me to
believe that he was really a great man, with
but few infirmities. Nevertheless, I am not
much surprised at what has taken place, for
I must confess that the yoke of government
might probably press heavily upon his people,
and that he might carry his whole system,
CHRISTOPHE OF HAYTI. 287
botli in introducing improvements and in re-
forming morals, with too much rigor." " He
has been charged, as far as I know, with only
two faults ; one, an over strict enforcement
of justice ; the other, his being avaricious,
and heaping together much money in his
capital. But this was for the purpose of buy-
ing gunpowder from the Americans, in case
the French should attack him. He sent me
over six thousand pounds, to pay schoolmas-
ters, etc. ; and I remember his giving a man,
whose conduct he approved, one thousand
dollars, quite spontaneously. He was a great
man, intent on the improvement of his peo-
ple ; but he furnishes a striking instance of
the truth, that by too earnestly pursuing a
good object, you directly defeat it."
XIX.
fast ftt&Jw ®ffuHi.
Impaired health, and the effect of long-
continued labors upon a constitution never
robust, admonished Mr. Wilberforce that the
days of his greatest activity were past. Yet
were his parliamentary labors to be marked
at their close by new conflicts in that cause
to which he had given his early strength.
Gradually had the case of the West Indian
slaves, and the necessity of improving their
condition, been, by the efforts of their friends,
made apparent. In 1823, a decided progress
was made. The views of the friends of the
slave had become extended, and emancipa-
tion was now the end in view. They had
come to this result, not by any abstract
theory, but by the necessity of the case, and
LAST PUBLIC EFFORTS. 289
the failure of every other effort of reform.
The evil plant must be plucked up by the
roots. To lop the branches ever so carefully,
had been proved to be of no avail. An ad-
mirable pamphlet was published, not far from
this time, by Mr. Clarkson, the old and un-
wearied friend of the cause, wherein he goes
into the subject at large.
The time had, indeed, now arrived when
that which had been in vain sought from col-
onial legislation must be won from the Brit-
ish Parliament. But the voice that formerly
in trumpet tones had led on the conflict for
justice and right, was enfeebled with age,
and broken by reason of infirmity. The work
must be given to younger hands. Yet se-
renely clear was the spirit's light within,
where the presence of God dwelt as in a
temple. He says of himself : " My lungs are
affected, and my voice weak, so I am forced
to keep the house/' " I greatly regret I can
not go, but I must accustom myself to be
willing to retire." " A Christian, considering
25
290 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
himself the servant of God, does his Master's
business so long as He signifies his will by
action, and no less by retiring. I hope I
have been acting on this principle, applying,
he must increase, but I must decrease to
other and younger men. And oh, may I be
enabled to walk by faith, not sight ; and
then all will be clear and easy and not un-
pleasant. How cheering is the consideration
that all events are under the guidance of in-
finite wisdom and goodness, and that we are
hastening to a world of secure peace and joy."
The position he had formerly occupied in
the House as the acknowledged leader in the
African cause, he now transferred to T. F.
Buxton, Esq. With reference to the changed
aspect of things, he remarks : u God can effect
his own purposes by his own agents as he
will. f They also serve who only stand and
wait ! ? "
Yet by other means he was still active.
That the subject must be brought before
Parliament by no other than himself, was the
LAST PUBLIC EFFORTS. 291
judgment of those interested. He was there-
fore urged to record and publish his opinions
on the state of the negro slaves. This he
did. In March was published his "Appeal
to Keligion, Justice, and Humanity/' In
this pamphlet his fervor of spirit was so
tempered with the wisdom of age, and the
beautiful candor and the spirit of justice
which distinguished him, as to carry itself to
the hearts of those who read, " Its perusal,"
said a West Indian proprietor, "has so af-
fected me, that should it cost me my whole
property, I surrender it willingly, that my
poor negroes may be brought not only to the
liberty of Europeans, but, especially, to the
liberty of Christians/'
At the close of the session of Parliament,
during which the West Indian subject had
been fairly opened by Mr. Buxton, Wilber-
force retired into the country. Again an-
other sitting called him to London ; but at
this time his life was endangered from an at-
tack of inflammation of the lungs. This
292 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
period of illness is thus detailed by his biog-
rapher : " His perfect patience, and the con-
tinual bursts of love and thankfulness which
were ever breaking forth throughout this
season of restlessness and langor, can never
be forgotten by those who watched with the
deepest anxiety beside the sick bed of such a
father. c No man/ he would say, 6 has been
more favored than £• for even when I am ill,
my complaints occasion little suffering/ "
With reference to the "great affection
borne him by his family/' he wrote in reply
to Mr. Babington, who had expressed his
pleasure at observing it. u No physician can
devise, and no money can purchase such a
restorative to a sick man."
" It would indeed/' continues his son,
"be strange had it been otherwise. He
was beloved in general society ; but if he
sparkled there, he shone at home. None but
his own family could fully know the warmth
of his heart, or the unequaled sweetness of
his temper/'
LAST PUBLIC EFFORTS. 293
This illness was during the session of Par-
liament, from which he was absent eight
weeks. His departure from London was fol-
lowed by another severe attack. Recovering
in some degree from this, he lived necessarily
in much seclusion. The time had now ar-
rived when he must retire from the scene of
his labors. For the press of business, the
strife of debate, his decayed strength was no
longer equal.
Arrangement was suggested, by the kind-
ness of a friend, that would have removed
him to the Upper House. To this he replied ^
u To your friendly suggestion, respecting
changing the field of my parliamentary la-
bors, I must say a word or two, premising
that I do not intend to continue in public
life longer than the present Parliament. I
will not deny that there have been periods
in my life when, on worldly principles, the
attainment of a permanent, easy, and quiet
seat in the legislature would have been a
pretty strong temptation to me. But I thank
25*
294 WILLIAM WILBEKFORCE.
God, I was strengthened against yielding to
it; For, (understand me rightly,) as I had
done nothing to make it naturally come to
me, I must have endeavored to go to it ; and
this would have "been carving for myself, if I
may use the expression, much more than a
Christian ought to do/'
In connection with this remarkable letter,
we touch once more upon the question, why
was not Wilberforce long before raised to a
peerage, ennobled by parchments and rib-
bons, honored by a title, etc. ? Simply be-
cause his choice was otherwise. He must in
1
this matter be believed to be sincere. In a
private document he alludes to " the injury
done to the credit and character of the House
of Commons by numerous peerages that were
granted to men who had no public claims to
such a distinction/' These persons, in short,
served the existing administration, and were
paid for it. He says : u In this connexion
an example therefore appeared to me to he re-
quired of an opposite kind" This he truly
LAST PUBLIC EFFORTS. 295
says, u could not be exhibited more properly
than in the instance of one, who, having been
some time member for the greatest county in
England, and being also the personal inti-
mate of the Prime Minister, might be sup-
posed likely, if he had made the endeavor, to
succeed in obtaining the object of his wishes."
Surely this paragraph sets the question be-
yond a doubt.
His final retirement was made with regret.
He "regretted that he had done so little."
"When congratulated on the achievements of
his preeminently useful life, his unaffected
humbleness of mind dictated the reply :
" The heart knows its own bitterness. We
alone know ourselves, and the opportunities
we have enjoyed, and the comparative use we
have made of them."
This was by no means the result of a habit
of depreciating himself, for even in this he
speaks discriminately, and says : " I should
not speak truly if I were to charge my par-
296 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
liaxnentary life with sins of commission. I
can call G-od to witness that I always spoke
and voted according to my conscience, for the
public and not for my own private interest."
Tet in immediate connection with this he al-
ludes to u opportunities of good inadequately
improved."
Ah who, save One, ever dwelt on earth that
might not make this charge his own !
It was not possible for such a man to pass
from public life without observation and tes-
timonials of regard.
The charms of his genius thousands had
acknowledged — to the power of his eloquence
thousands could attest. One well qualified to
judge esteemed him as the "most efficient
speaker in the House of Commons." Pitt
himself repeatedly declared, u Of all the men
I ever knew, Wilberforce has the greatest
natural eloquence." Says another who was
accustomed to listen to him, and also to
record his own impressions received at the
time : u Wilberforce held a high and conspic-
LAST PUBLIC EFFORTS. 297
uous place in oratory, even at a time when
English eloquence rivaled whatever we read
of in Grreecp or Eome. His voice itself was
"beautiful : deep, clear, articulate, flexible. I
think his greatest efforts were made for the
abolition of the trade in slaves, and in sup-
porting some of the measures brought forward
by Pitt, or for the more effectual suppression
of revolutionary machinations ; but he often
rose unprepared in mixed debate, on the
impulse of the moment, and seldom sat down
without having struck into that higher tone
of general reasoning and vivid illustration,
which left on his hearers the impression of
power beyond what the occasion had called
forth."
Such a man could not retire from public
life without much observation from the pub-
lic at large, and much sympathy from those
who knew him best.
One extract closes this period. It is from
a letter to a friend. After speaking in glow-
298 WILLIAM WILBEEFORCE.
ing language of the "full harvest" younger
men might live to see, from " the good seed
now sowing — let me check," he continues,
" this random sally of the imagination ; and
for you, though much younger than me, as
well as for myself, let me recollect that we
may humbly hope, through the infinite mer-
cies of our God and Saviour, to behold all the
joys and glories that I have been anticipating
for the generations to come, and to behold
them from a higher elevation, and through a
purer medium. We are not told that Moses
was to experience, after death, any thing dif-
ferent from mankind in general, and yet we
know that he took part in the events of this
lower world, and on the Mount of Transfigu-
ration talked with Christ concerning his death,
which he was to undergo at Jerusalem. And
I love, my dear friend, to dwell on this idea,
that after our departure from the scene of our
earthly pilgrimage, we shall witness the devel-
opment of the plans we may have formed for
the benefit of our fellow-creatures ; the growth
LAST PUBLIC EFFORTS. 299
and fruitage of the good principles we have
implanted and cultivated in our children ;
and, above! all, the fulfillment of the prayers
we have poured forth for them, in the large
effusions on them of that heavenly grace
which, above all things, we have implored as
their portion. It is almost, I fear, to touch
too tender a string, but there is one in my
breast also which vibrates in exact unison with
yours." Here, in allusion to those who have
departed, he touches most tenderly upon the
idea that they are still aware of ill that hap-
pens to those they loved on earth. " I must
no longer trespass on my slender stock of eye-
sight, but say farewell."
XX.
ttntmtnt snlr §mi\
The public life of Mr. Wilberforce having
closed^ lie determined to go into retirement
altogether. With this end in view, he pur-
chased a residence at Highwood Hill, about
ten miles from London. He did not, however,
take immediate possession, but remained for
a time at Uxbridge. In view of the changes
of life, he writes : " May I be enabled more
and more to walk, during the years which
may yet remain for me, in the fear of the
Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.
May I walk with God in my closing years,
and then where, is of little consequence/'
Still he was surrounded by a circle of
friends. It had been remarked by one of
these that "Mr. Wilberforce would create
HIGHWOOD HILL. 301
society in a desert/' Insensibly his conversa-
tion, at this time, was wont to slide into recol-
lections of past times. The great men and
great events of a former day passed in review
before him, and his visitors listened with de-
light to the rich descriptions, the breathing-
pictures which the " old man eloquent" was
wont to unroll, one by one, before them.
In June, 1826, he took possession of his
Highwood home. This is marked by the fol-
lowing entry in his Journal : " Late when I
got home, and had a too hasty prayer for first
settlement in a new house— all in confusion."
Two distinguished persons at a dinner at a
friend's house, when the doctrine of a partic-
ular Providence was discussed, expressed their
belief in it u on great occasions." Of this he
remarks in his Journal : " As unphilosophical
as it is unscriptural — must not the smallest
links be as necessary for maintaining the con-
tinuity as the greatest ? Great and little
belong to our littleness ; but there is no great
and little to God."
26
302 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
Though retired, he deprecated the idea of
being useless. Though his usual pursuits had
ceased, he was, from principle as well as habit,
in no danger of contracting the rust of idle-
ness. His days were very regularly spent.
He had still his correspondence, his charities,
the duties of hospitality, the pursuits of lite-
rature. His love of books had by no means
lessened with age. His constitutional weak-
ness of sight had always been unfavorable to
close application, but he had acquired the
habit of mastering the contents of a book by
a sort of rapid glancing through its pages,
and thus appropriating its pith and marrow
more rapidly than many a laborious reader.
But for a vivid sketching of these days, we
quote the description of one of his friends :*
u The picture which the dead leave on the
minds of the survivors is not always lively or
distinct. Although we may have fondly loved
them, and may hallow the memory of their
good qualities, we can not always summon
* Familiar Sketch by J. J. G-urney.
gurney's teibute. 303
tlieir image before us ; but I venture to
express my conviction that no one who has
been accustomed to observe Wilberforce, will
ever find the slightest difficulty in picturing
him on the tablet of the mind. Who that
knew him can fail to recall the rapid move-
ments of his somewhat diminutive form, the
illumination of his expressive countenance,
and the nimble finger with which he used to
seize on every little object which happened to
adorn or diversify his path ? Much less can
we forget his vivacious wit, so playful, yet so
harmless ; the glow of his affections ; the
urbanity of his manners, and the wondrous
celerity with which he was wont to turn from
one bright thought to another. Above all,
however, his friends will never cease to re-
member that peculiar sunshine which he
threw over a company by the influence of a
mind perpetually tuned to love and praise.
I am ready to think there could be no greater
luxury than that of roaming with him in
solitude over green fields and gardens, and
304 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
drawing out of his treasury things new and
old.
" This was most true of his hour of daily
exercise. Who that ever joined him in it can
not see him as he v walked round his garden
at Highwood ?. Now in animated and even
playful conversation, and then drawing from
his copious pockets (to contain Dalrymple's
state papers was the standard measure) some
favorite volume or other— a Psalter, a Horace,
a Shakspeare or Oowper, and reading and
reciting, or 'refreshing' passages, and then
catching at long-stored flower-leaves as the
wind blew them from the pages, or standing
before a favorite gum-cistus to repair the loss.
Then he would point out the harmony of the
tints, the beauty of the penciling, the perfec-
tion of the coloring, and run up all into those
ascriptions of praise to the Almighty that
were ever welling forth from his grateful
heart. He loved flowers with all the simple
delight of childho(>I. He would hover from
"bed to bed over his favorites ; and when he
LOVE OF FLOWERS. 305
came in, even from the shortest walk, depos-
ited a few that he had gathered safely in his
room before he joined the breakfast-table.
Often would he say, as he enjoyed their fra-
grance, " How good is God to us ! What
should we think of a friend who had furnished
us with a magnificent house and all we need-
ed, and then coming in to see that all had
been provided according to his wishes, should
be hurt that no scents had been placed in
the rooms ? Tet so has Grod dealt with us.
Surely flowers are the smiles of his goodness."
Says another visitor : " His figure is now in
my mind — his benevolent eye, his kind, con-
siderate manner of speaking, his reverence for
Scripture, his address, the pauses he made in
his walk when he had any thing emphatic to
say. I recollect one sentiment was, that the
passages so frequent in Scripture importing
the unwillingness of the Almighty that the
sinner should perish, the invitations addressed
to him to return, the remonstrances with him
on his unbelief, etc., must be interpreted
26*
306 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
strictly and literally, or they would appear to
be a mockery of man's misery, and to involve
the most fearful imputations on the Divine
character. Evasions of the force of such
passages were, he thought, highly injurious,
and went to sap the whole evidence and bear-
ing of the Christian revelation.
" Of his benevolence I need not speak ; but
his kind construction of doubtful actions, his
charitable language toward those from whom
he most widely differed, his thorough forget-
fulness of little affronts, were fruits of that
general benevolence which continually ap-
peared. The nearer you observed him, the
more the habit of his mind appeared obviously
to be modest and lowly. He was in as little
measure as possible elated by the love and
esteem of almost the whole civilized world,
which, long before his death, had been
accorded him. It required some manage-
ment to draw him out in conversation, and
therefore some of those who saw him only
once might go away disappointed. But if he
SCRIPTURAL EXPOSITIONS. 307
was lighted up, and in a small circle, his
powers of conversation were prodigious — a
natural eloquence was poured out, strokes of
gentle playfulness and satire fell on all sides,
and the company were soon absorbed in ad-
miration."
Says another visitor, who writes from High-
wood Hill : " I wish I could send you some-
thing of what I have heard in the beautifully
simple explanations that he gives every day
of a chapter that he reads from the New Tes-
tament. Then if you could hear him reading,
as he does, the poems from the * Christian
Year V I shall have much to tell you, at some
future time, of sentiments and ideas of his,
all so beautiful, and so true, and so indulgent
— for I think nothing more striking in him
than that spirit of general benevolence which
governs all he says, joined to the extreme
beauty of his voice. It does indeed make
him appear c to love whatever he speaks of/ "
Among his numerous charities, it had
always been a favorite one to assist young
308 WILLIAM WILBEEFOKCE.
men of promise. Foremost of these stands
the name of Kirke White. Mr. Wilberforce
was one of the first who appreciated and aided
this unfortunate child of genius. In his busi-
est days, too, it had been his custom to invite
to his home those who were preparing for
religious usefulness, and by conversation to
learn their capacities and predilections. Often,
by a well-timed direction, a suggestive word,
a tone, even, of encouragement or admoni-
tion, was he able to change the color of their
doctrines. Now, however, that his absorbing
cares were laid aside, he carried this manner
of doing good further than before, by taking
some of those he assisted home beneath his
roof, defraying the expenses of their educa-
tion, and devoting hours of his time to their
improvement. In holidays these favored youth,
absent at school, came home to the hospitable
roof and the welcome that awaited them
there, encouraged and blessed by the sunshine
that constantly rested upon its inmates. Nor
were the neighboring poor forgotten. Sought
PECUNIAKY DEPRESSION. 309
out in their cottage homes, they received,
according as they needed, instruction or relief,
and duly on Sabbath evenings were invited to
join in worship with the family and the
guests of Wilberforce.
The erection of a chapel at Highwood,
there being no church within three miles,
occasioned much care, and gave rise to some
annoying circumstances ; and the mention of
this brings us to the record of unforeseen
calamity. In the serenity of this beautiful
retirement we might feel disposed to leave
the venerated subject of this memorial, until
the voice from heaven should call to his serv-
ant, " Come up hither/' But change and
vicissitudes end not till man himself is changed
from this mortal to immortality. Trials came
in the unwonted form of pecuniary depres-
sion.
Some years before retiring from public life,
Mr. Wilberforce wrote thus to one of his. sons,
then at college :
" On the topic of money, it may become ne-
310 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
cessary, I fear, for me to speak to all my chil-
dren. This returning so hastily to a metallic
currency, a subject on which your master [the
Bishop of Llandaff] has written with the pen
of a political economist of no ordinary abil-
ity, has so suddenly increased the value of
money, and brought down the prices of all
raw produce, that our farmers are gradually
falling into ruin, and I shall be very glad, in-
deed, if lowering my rents twenty-five per
cent, (and they were always ordered to be
fixed on fair and moderate terms) will enable
my tenants to pay me the remainder. Yet,
to a man who, like me, has never designedly
saved any thing, such a diminution of reve-
nue, a fourth, is not very convenient ; but
certainly we must all learn and practice econ-
omy/'
This was written at a time when his family
were most expensive ; moreover, the twenty-
five per cent, ultimately became changed to
thirty-seven, making a deduction of more
than a third from his yearly income.
HIS LIBERALITY. 311
His expenditure had always been liberal.
Yet, for his public station and rank in life,
his style of living had never been sumptuous.
u You can do as you please/' said one, him-
self a dispenser of luxurious banquets, " for
people come to hear you talk/' He himself
speaks of his habits being " a less expensive
table, less costly furniture/' than others of
similar fortune ; and adds, " as a conse-
quence, I was able to act with a generosity
from which, I am sure, had mere self-gratifi-
cation been my object, I should have been
abundantly recompensed." But his hospital-
ities, as we have seen, were almost unbound-
ed ; so much, so, that for the solitude neces-
sary to rigid application, he was accustomed
to sojourn at the mansion of some familiar
friend, hidden, as it were, for the time, from
interruption. Of his charities we have al-
ready spoken, and will only add a short ex-
tract from a letter to his oldest son. " I
never intended to do more than not to exceed
my income, Providence having placed me in
312 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.
a situation in which my charities were neces-
sarily large. But, believe me, there is a spe-
cial blessing in being liberal to the poor, and
on the family of those who have been so ;
and I doubt not my children will fare better
even in this world, for real happiness, than
if I had been saving twenty or thirty thou-
sand pounds of what has been given away."
In addition to the reduction of income,
which we have mentioned, we must record
the failure of an extensive farming specula-
tion, entered into for the benefit of one of his
sons. The loss of capital was so great as to
render retrenchment necessary. It was
thought best to give up the, mansion at
Highwood.
That Mr. Wilberforce felt this calamity
keenly, we have evidence ; but that it affect-
ed in any degree his cheerful and serene
spirit, does not appear. Just after this, we
find a pleasant notice of a renewal of inter-
course with one long known, Sir James Mac-
intosh, whom he now met frequently. He
macintosh's eeminiscence. 313
says in his Journal, "Macintosh, came in, and
sat most kindly chatting with me at dinner.
What a paragon of a companion he is, quite
unequaled I"
To this we can not but add the pleasant
account of this intercourse, given by Macin-
tosh himself. " Do you remember Madame
de Maintenon's exclamation, • Oh, the misery
of having to amuse an old king, qui n'est pas
amusable V Now, if I were called upon to
describe Wilberforce in one word, I should
say he was the most c amusable' man I ever
met with in my life. Instead of having to
think what subject will interest him, it is im-
possible to hit upon one that will not. I
never saw any one who touched life at so
many points ; and this is the more remark-
able in a man who is supposed to be absorbed
in the contemplation of a future state. When
he was in the House of Commons, he seemed
to have the freshest mind of any man there.
There was all the charm of youth about him.
And he is quite as remarkable in this bright
27
314 WILLIAM WILBERFOKGE.
evening of his days, as when I saw him in
his glory many years ago."
The hidden springs of this beautiful seren-
ity, at an age when the natural spirits may
be expected to decay, can be found only in
the harmony of his soul with the divine gov-
ernment, and a clear perception of the di-
vine goodness and love.
These pecuniary losses were followed by a
trial of a tenderer nature— the death of his
surviving daughter. " Blessed be God," he
says, during her illness, " we have reason to
be thankful for the state of mind we witness
in her ; a holy, humble reliance on her Sav-
iour, enables her to enter the dark valley
with Christian hope, leaning, as it were, on
her Redeemer's arm, and supported and
cheered by the promises of the G-ospel. We
are in the hands of our heavenly Father, and
I am sure no one has hitherto had such rea-
son as myself to say that goodness and mercy
have followed me all my days."
Eemoving from Highwood, he became a
KESIDENCE WITH HIS SON. 315
resident with his sons. The tender reverence
which these bore him as a parent, seems to
have been' equaled only by their admiring
love for his genius and character. That his
altered circumstances had had the effect to
bring him nearer to his children, he* records
with much satisfaction. " Here/' he says,
writing from one of these residences, " we
have the delightful spectacle of those whom
we love most, enjoying a large measure of
human life's sweetest enjoyments, combined
with the diligent discharge of its highest du-
ties/' An additional joy was granted him in
this evening of life ; the pure and overflow-
ing delight that springs from the presence of
happy childhood. Of this he says, " What a
manifest benevolence there is in the Al-
mighty's having rendered young children so
eminently attractive, considering the degree
in which their very existence must depend on
the disposition of those around them, to bear
with their little infirmities, sustain their
weakness, and supply their wants."
316 WILLIAM WILBERFORC^.
" The details of his life at his parsonage
residences/' says one of his sons, " were much
what they had been of late at Highwood, ex-
cept that greater quietness gave him more
time for reading, and for those devotional
habits which manifestly grew with his in-
creasing years, in which he found the Psalms
and St. Paul's Epistles becoming more and
more dear to him/'
" His early walk, and his mid-day employ-
ments, remained unaltered, and in the after-
noon he still took, as heretofore, considerable
exercise ; pacing at East Farleigh, during the
winter, up and down a c sheltered, sunny,
gravel walk ;• and, in the summer, climbing
with delight at Brighton to the top of the
chalk downs, or of an intermediate terrace, or
walking along an unfrequented shore/'
"His evenings were now as bright as ever,
and though his power of retaining new ideas
was greatly impaired, the colors of his earlier
impressions seemed scarcely to fade."
" He now never met a friend of earlier
LAST CHRISTIAN EFFORTS. 317
days, and whose principles were different from
his own (and such he took great pains to
see), without following up their intercourse
with a friendly letter on their most important
interests, pressing mainly on them that it
was not yet too late for them to make the
better choice. c This is what they need/ he
repeated often ; * they get to think they are
in for it, and that though they have chosen
ill, it is too late to alter/ "
This encouraging spirit, in the exertion of
religious influence, he cultivated from prin-
ciple, fearing that in the earlier and less as-
sured and settled Christian hopes that had
marked his own history, he had betrayed to
others a state of mind with regard to them-
selves, that savored of discouragement. This,
in the calmer light of more matured piety,
more entire and trusting love, he strove to
correct. "At all events," said one, at the
close of a religious conversation, " if you are
right, it is now too late for me to alter. I
am in for it." " No," he answered earnestly^
27*
318 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE
cc
my deaf P., it is not too late. Only attend
to these things, and you will find it true,
' he that cometh unto me ; I will in no wise
cast out/ "
Though for two years he had quite given
up the thought that he should ever speak in
public again, he was induced, on the 12th of
April, 1833, to propose at a meeting, in the
town of Maidstone, a petition against slavery.
" It was/' says his biographer, u an affecting
sight to see the old man, who had been so
long the champion of this cause, come forth
once more from his retirement, and with an
unquenched spirit, though with a weakened
voice and failing body, maintain for the last
time the cause of truth and justice."
There was now no doubt but the entire
abolition of negro slavery in the British do-
minions would soon take place. The prin-
ciple of compensation to the owners was,
however, in debate. On this point his opin-
ions were decided. All, he contended, who
should actually suffer loss, should be duly re-
LAST PUBLIC APPEAKANCE. 319
numerated. The proposal, therefore, of a
grant of twenty millions for this purpose, met
his approval, and he had no hesitation in
giving to this measure the weight of his
opinion.
This was his last appearance in public.
His strength now visibly declined. We must
follow him now down those declining paths
that lead to the valley of shadows, yet where,
to the eye of faith, rest evermore rays of
heavenly brightness. A solemn and intense
spirituality mark this period. The soul dwelt
consciously on the borders of infinity. The
world behind, and eternity before, the mind's
eye looked calmly upon both. The attitude
is sublimely Christian. That collected sur-
vey of his state, that complete consciousness
of his approaching change, that absence of
exciting disease, that gradual decay of the
natural flow of spirits, reveal the soul with no
resource save as it joins itself, by an act of
deliberate faith, to the Eternal. In that
deep touching humility, that untroubled
320 WILLIAM WILBERFOECE.
trust in God, we see the fitting end of a life
such as we have endeavored to portray. In
the so great nearness to the spiritual world,
that it almost ceases to be a thing of antici-
pation, the soul having already made the
principles and sentiments of that purer state
its' own, we find the highest form of Christian
development. Mostly in words of thankful*
ness and praise, do the emotions of the
dying now find expression. " Be careful for
nothing, but in every thing by prayer and
supplication make known your requests to
God." " The peace of God shall keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
He was removed to Bath for the benefit of
the waters, by which, on former occasions, he
had been so much strengthened. After some
time it was thought advisable to remove to
London. He had, in 1824, derived great
benefit from the skill of Dr. Chambers. He
had himself, however, no expectation of being
restored. " There is no one now/' he said,
" that I can be useful to ; but we should
TKIUMPH OF HIS PRINCIPLES. 321
always be trying to fbllow, in every respect,
God's indicated will."
He was* removed to London to die. The
next day lie expressed himself " very anxious
to dedicate the short remainder of time God
might yet allot him, to the cultivation of
union with Christ, and to the acquiring of
more of his spirit."
At this time Parliament was still in ses-
sion, and many of his old friends flocked
around him. "What -cause for thankful-
ness," he exclaimed, "that God has always
disposed people to treat me so kindly."
It was a singular coincidence of circum-
stances that he had come to London at that
particular point of time. The Bill for the
Abolition of Slavery had reached its second
reading in the House of Commons, and the
last public information that he received was,
that his country was willing to redeem itself
from the national disgrace at any sacrifice.
". Thank God," said he, " that I shall have
lived to witness a day, in which England is
322 WILLIAM WILBEEFOKCB,
willing to give twenty millions sterling for the
abolition of slavery/'
This was his last recognition of public
affairs. And so ended his career. His old
friends gaining, as his waning strength per-
mitted, admittance to his bedside, to gaze
once more upon his familiar face, to catch
once more the accents of his voice — his name,
meanwhile, a watchword of liberty and glory
in. the councils of the nation. Calmly he
passed away — his weakness sustained by
eternal strength, his decay opening the en-
trance to eternal life. On the morning of
July 9th, 1833, an old servant drew him out
in a wheel-carriage. He looks once more on
the green earth and smiling sky- — he con-
verses as with renovated powers ; the spirit,
the grace, the animation of former days is not
yet gone ; he offers up the family prayer with
marked fervor of religious affection ; he ap-
pears stronger than before. It was but the
sudden flaming up of the candle in its socket.
It was " the last of earth/'
HIS DEATH. 323
A succession of fainting fits followed. If
he had survived it would have been but as a
wreck. ' Heaven in mercy spared the survivors
that grief — the beholding of that brilliant
intellect beclouded, that benignly speaking
eye bereft of the light of thought. With one
expression of humble trust, with one groan
at the severance of the soul from its familiar
tabernacle, the freed one passed from the
circling embrace of earthly love to the pres-
ence of his Redeemer.
In the last resting place of so many of the
noble dead, in the north transept of West-
minster Abbey, hard by the tombs of his old
companions, Pitt, and Fox, and Canning,
may be found the name of Wilberforce.
THE END,
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